Well, fans weren’t sold on Real Housewives of Orange County newbie Katie Ginella, but now they’re even more confused. It turns out Katie once called the police with allegations that led to a man being falsely arrested and imprisoned.
Katie Ginella allegedly gets aggressive
Documents obtained by In Touch magazine reveal that a man named Sidnei Silva sued Katie in March 2016. In the lawsuit, he claims that he had an incident with Katie on his way home from work on April 12, 2015.
Apparently, Katie followed him to his home and “parked her vehicle behind” his work van. She then “exited her vehicle and confronted Silva aggressively,” the suit said. That’s just weird.
“In an effort to protect himself,” Silva grabbed his cell phone to record Katie’s rant, which led to her calling 911. He said Katie reported that he was preventing her from leaving the scene. He insisted nothing prevented her from getting back into her car and driving away.
“When police arrived … [Katie repeated] to them that Silva had blocked her path and prevented her from getting inside her vehicle and leaving.”
“As a result of [her] allegations, the police initially arrested Silva for false imprisonment, disorderly conduct, and reckless driving,” the lawsuit read. “[But] upon further investigation, the police determined that [Katie] was the primary aggressor and that her allegations against Silva were false.”
Silva added that during the incident, he “was thrown to the ground, injured and arrested.”
A costly court fight for Katie Ginella
Following the incident, Silva claimed he had no choice but to hire a lawyer and fight the charges, which were eventually dismissed. He spent $12,625 on legal fees and believes Katie should reimburse him. He also accused Katie of slander and demanded over $100,000 in damages.
According to court records, Katie never responded to the 2018 suit, resulting in a default judgment of $112,945.00 against her.
In a separate lawsuit filed against the arresting officer, Silva went into more detail about the incident. He alleged that while driving home, he noticed Katie texting while driving with several children in her car.
Silva’s brother was killed eight years ago by a driver who was texting, and that stirred a reaction in him. As he passed Katie’s vehicle, he shook his head in disapproval, which caused her to follow him home. That’s a bit extreme.
The lawsuit alleged, “[Katie] parked behind Silva, got out of her car, leaving the children inside, and screamed at him. Confused by the woman’s behavior — after all, she was the one who had endangered the public and the children in her car by texting while driving — Silva began recording the event with his cell phone.”
In 2018, Silva and the officer agreed to dismiss the case.
I think I just switched sides over the Disneyland paparazzi accusations. I’m once again in Heather Dubrow’s corner predicting that Katie will be another one-and-done RHOC housewife.
Real Housewives of Orange County airs Thursdays at 9/8c on Bravo.
TELL US – DO YOU WISH THE HOUSEWIVES HAD THIS INFORMATION ON KATIE WHEN THEY WERE FILMING THE SHOW? WHO DO YOU THINK WOULD HAVE HELD KATIE’S FEET TO THE FIRE?