Man Arrested For Stalking Caught At Tuolumne County Courthouse

Michael Scott Diffenderfer --TCSO booking photo

Sonora, CA – An Angels Camp man was arrested after allegedly repeatedly breaking a restraining order against him and was placed on hefty bail.

Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office recently got a call from a woman reporting a restraining order violation against her ex-boyfriend, 62-year-old Michael Scott Diffenderfer. She told them that he had been following her, driving by her residence, calling her on the phone, and sending her threatening text messages. The restraining order prohibited Diffenderfer from having any contact with the victim. It was granted due to a previous domestic violence incident between them.

On prior occasions, the victim had reported that Diffenderfer violated the restraining order by contacting her in an attempt to dissuade her from testifying against him in the earlier domestic violence incident.

“The victim believed Diffenderfer was trying to scare her into getting his other case dropped,” according to investigators.

While the deputy could not locate Diffenderfer during the initial call, he wrote a case to document the reported violations. Sheriff’s officials say the deputy determined there was probable cause to show that Diffenderfer had violated the restraining order, had intimidated a victim, and was stalking the victim based on evidence of repeated contact and threats made to the victim. Additionally, Diffenderfer was out on bail for a pending criminal case out of Calaveras County.

Two days later, while working a detail at the Tuolumne County Superior Courthouse off Old Wards Ferry Road in Sonora, the deputy was alerted by the victim that Diffenderfer was there. He was located and taken into custody without incident. He faces felony stalking (felony), committing a felony while released on bail, intimidating a victim or witness, and a misdemeanor domestic violence restraining order. His bail was set at $100,000.