An affidavit says the woman called 911 after her doorbell camera feed went dark.
HORIZON CITY, Texas — A U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer barricaded herself with her son inside a bedroom after her former boyfriend allegedly followed her home, removed a doorbell camera and appeared near a drone, deputies said.
The El Paso County case focuses on the woman’s report of immediate fear inside her home and the steps deputies say followed outside it. Cristobal Gonzalez, 26, is charged with stalking, theft of property and criminal trespass. The complaint says the woman and Gonzalez share a child but were no longer in a dating relationship, and it describes earlier domestic-related calls involving them.
The woman’s account began after work May 23. She told deputies she picked up her son in West El Paso and drove to her home in the 600 block of Paseo Modesto Drive near Eastlake Boulevard and Darrington Road. When she pulled into the garage, she saw Gonzalez’s 2020 gray Cadillac CT5 parked outside. The garage door shut before he could get out of the car and enter the garage, according to the complaint. Gonzalez then walked to the front door and knocked several times. Deputies said he forcibly removed a Ring doorbell camera from the exterior wall. When the video feed cut off, the woman called 911.
Dispatchers told a responding deputy that the woman was a CBP officer, that she had a gun and that she would use it if Gonzalez entered the house, the complaint states. By the time the deputy arrived at about 7:40 a.m., Gonzalez was gone. The woman hesitated before answering because she believed he could still be outside. The affidavit says she was wearing her CBP duty uniform and crying hysterically. She told deputies she feared Gonzalez would enter and cause bodily injury. Inside the home, she had taken her son to a bedroom, barricaded them in and grabbed her CBP-issued duty weapon in case the door was forced open.
That scene shaped the sheriff’s response. Deputies were not only looking at a complaint about a damaged camera. They were responding to a report that a former partner had followed a woman home while her child was present and that she had prepared to defend them with a firearm if he entered. The woman told deputies there was an extensive history of family violence and criminal trespassing involving Gonzalez. The complaint lists two earlier reports: a March 3 domestic violence call that was cleared as verbal only and another domestic criminal trespass incident that resulted in warrants. No further details were given about the March report.
Evidence from the home then widened the case. The woman emailed doorbell camera footage to the deputy. The footage allegedly showed Gonzalez arriving and removing the Ring camera. Deputies also reviewed video that allegedly showed Gonzalez getting out of his vehicle, walking toward the front sidewalk and picking up a white drone while its propellers were still spinning. The complaint says the drone was not visible on the sidewalk before Gonzalez arrived. A deputy wrote that the drone may have been used to surveil or stalk the woman. The sheriff’s office also said surveillance footage recovered in the investigation showed Gonzalez using a drone to watch the house.
The drone allegation led deputies to Gonzalez’s location within the hour. At about 8:15 a.m., deputies went to a home in the 12000 block of Powick Drive near Horizon City and found his car. A white drone was visible on the front passenger seat, according to the complaint. Deputies approached Gonzalez, who began emptying his pockets and said, “I already know,” the affidavit states. He was handcuffed and placed in a patrol vehicle. After deputies read him his Miranda rights, he replied, “I wish to plead the 5th,” according to the complaint. Investigators later served a warrant on the vehicle and recovered the drone and a controller.
Gonzalez was then taken to the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Peter J. Herrera Patrol Station. The complaint says he made an unsolicited statement after deputies placed him in a holding cell. “I’ll be back, the laws are pointless,” Gonzalez allegedly said. The statement became a key part of reports about the case because it addressed what the woman had told deputies she feared: that the conduct would continue. The affidavit did not say Gonzalez explained the remark. It also did not say whether the drone had stored video, whether investigators had reviewed its files or whether any images from the device were added to the court record.
The charges reflect three different parts of the allegation. Stalking covers the claimed pattern of following, surveillance and fear. Theft of property is linked to the removed Ring doorbell camera. Criminal trespass is tied to the allegation that Gonzalez went to the property despite prior conflict and did not live there. The woman requested an emergency protective order after speaking with deputies. Court records described in reports did not show whether a judge granted one. Her name was not published in the reports, which followed the common practice of not identifying possible victims in domestic violence cases.
Gonzalez was booked into the El Paso County jail May 23. His bond was initially set at $27,000. Two days later, during a May 25 bond reduction hearing, an El Paso County magistrate judge lowered the bond to $15,000. Court records cited in reports did not say which magistrate judge presided over the hearing. Gonzalez posted bail and was released that same day, jail logs show. No attorney was listed for him in the court records cited by the reports. A later account said his next court appearance was scheduled for July 1. The outcome of that setting was not included in the available reports.
The setting of the complaint, a morning arrival at a home after a work shift, gave the case its urgency. The woman was not described as confronting Gonzalez outside. She was described as trying to get inside quickly, seeing his vehicle, losing a camera feed and retreating with her child. The complaint says she told deputies she feared the situation would keep getting worse because of repeated offenses and escalating aggressive behavior. Deputies then linked those fears to the prior calls, the removed camera, the drone video, the device found in the car and the alleged holding cell remark.
Several questions remain for the court process. Public reports do not say what the drone recorded, whether a protective order was granted, whether prosecutors added or changed any allegations after the first complaint or whether Gonzalez entered a plea at a later hearing. The exact condition of the Ring camera also was not described. Those details could matter as the case moves through bond conditions, evidence review and any future hearing. For now, the public record described in reports rests on deputy accounts, videos the woman provided, the recovered drone and controller, and statements attributed to Gonzalez.
The case remains active in El Paso County, where Gonzalez is accused but not convicted. Deputies say the woman’s 911 call, the doorbell footage, the drone evidence and the alleged statement in custody form the core of the complaint. The next milestone was the court process after the scheduled July 1 appearance.
Author note: Last updated July 6, 2026.