Claudia Davant claims her estranged husband and state Sen. Alex Diax de la Portilla has repeatedly stalked her since she filed for divorce five months ago. And the Florida Department of Law Enforcement
is investigating some of her complaints.
Tallahassee Circuit Judge Dawn Caloca-Johnson granted Davant's request for a temporary restraining order against the Miami-Dade legislator this past Friday.
In her court filing, Davant included an affidavit stating that an "investigation with FDLE is underway." She asserts that Diaz de la Portilla "has (or caused some one to) attempted to break into my office, my computer hacked, my house-bugged, my phone hacked, and up to last week, someone was beating on the back door of my house at almost midnight just to cause me to be totally in fear."
Heather Smith, an FDLE spokeswoman, confirmed the ongoing criminal probe, but declined further comment. Meanwhile, Diaz de la Portilla cannot be within 500 feet of Davant. A hearing for a permanent restraining order is scheduled for June 1.
Diaz de la Portilla did not return two
messages left with secretaries at his Tallahassee and Miami legislative
offices.
He vehemently denied Davant's explosive accusations to the St.
Petersberg Times blog The Buzz: "It is deeply troubling that Claudia is colluding and
conspiring with her attorney to defame me and defraud me of what is rightfully
mine. These are bold-face lies and a mean spirited attempt to extort and
intimidate me." When he was fined by the Florida Elections Commission for failure to comply with election laws, Diaz de la Portilla claimed he was to broke to pay the $17,000. Yet a review of his bank and credit card statements during a hearing revealed Diaz de la Portilla was a high roller who visited Biloxi and Las Vegas casinos frequently. In filing for domestic violence protection, Davant alleges that she is "in eminent fear for my life to the point that I have fled out of town temporarily and am scared to return to my residence." She claims Diaz de la Portilla or someone working for him "attempted to break into my office." Her husband is "capable of doing anything, including great bodily harm to me because of the divorce case and criminal investigations which I am a witness." She adds: "My husband can be extremely explosive and violent especially when under the influence of alcohol."
The state senator is termed out and earlier this year he hinted at running for the congressional seat Mario Diaz-Balart is giving up. (Diaz-Balart is running for Congress in the district long held by his brother Lincoln, who is retiring).
But Diaz de la Portilla may want to concentrate on making nice with Davant, who filed her divorce petition in Leon County this past December 11, one day after he filed his papers in Miami-Dade family court. Davant and her attorney did not return two phone messages seeking comment.
The couple have no children, but he wants an equitable distribution of the marital assets. She claims that Diaz de la Portilla is defaulting on the mortgage of their Miami home where his relatives live, as well as spending her earnings. In her petition, she accused Diaz de la Portilla of urging her to use money from her retuirement assets to reduce his debts.
