By Jennifer Sawhney

Court documents show that Petaluma mayoral candidate Shelina Moreda joked about drinking and driving and apparently smashed a residential window with a piece of wood before a Sonoma County judge granted a domestic violence restraining order in late 2025.

The court initially granted a temporary restraining order against Moreda on Oct. 21 on behalf of her ex-boyfriend after he alleged that she spread misleading information about him on social media, sent him a series of both angry and conciliatory text messages, and broke a window at a South Lake Tahoe home where he had been staying.

Petaluma Voice at this time is withholding the identity of the ex-boyfriend, because he is an alleged victim. A temporary restraining order is not a finding of guilt or liability. Instead, it is typically issued on an emergency basis by a judge, before a full hearing takes place, based on the allegations of a petitioner without the evidentiary level required of other legal orders.

The restraining order was granted by Superior Court Judge Robert LaForge, ahead of a court hearing scheduled for Nov. 13. At the hearing, the attorney representing the ex-boyfriend, Charlotte Creaghan, requested a five-year restraining order. The ex-boyfriend appeared via Zoom, while Moreda appeared in the courtroom and objected to the restraining order. The matter was set for a subsequent Dec. 19 hearing.

At that Dec. 19 hearing, lawyers and their clients appeared in person on both sides. The ex-boyfriend had a new attorney, Stephanie Ransom, and Moreda appeared with Jon Vonder Haar. Ransom informed the court that the parties reached an agreement to dismiss the request for a restraining order. The details of the agreement were not provided to Petaluma Voice.

LaForge subsequently dismissed the restraining order without prejudice, which means the ex-boyfriend retains his right to refile for a new order if needed. Petaluma Voice sought a comment from LaForge. However, a judicial assistant said he does not comment on cases he’s presided over, sending the minutes of the hearing instead.

‘A private dispute’

Moreda responded in an email late Tuesday to Petaluma Voice after multiple requests for an interview over several days.

“I’m running for mayor of Petaluma, and I expect scrutiny,” she wrote. “I’d rather answer questions about it than let a court file speak for me.”

“On the restraining order request from last year: it was brought by a former partner, no court ever made any finding against me, and no order was ever issued against me on the merits. Both sides resolved it privately by agreement, on mutual terms, and I agreed to those terms specifically to end contact and put the matter behind me. I’ve never been arrested, charged, or convicted of driving under the influence. I’m not going to relitigate a private dispute involving a private person in the newspaper, and I’d ask you to weigh what publishing a request that never resulted in a finding actually tells voters.”

The lawyer representing the ex-boyfriend, Stephanie Ransom, said she was unable to provide any information or comment on the issue. The ex-boyfriend acknowledged a request for comment, and promised to respond back before deadline, but Petaluma Voice has not heard from him.

The revelation of legal and relationship trouble comes as Moreda is running a campaign for Petaluma mayor, calling for unity in our community, transparency, nurturing of small businesses, and encouraging public participation, according to her campaign website.

Brian Sobel, a Petaluma-based political analyst and former city councilmember who has done regional and national political analysis for over 30 years, said he always gives candidates the benefit of the doubt, and assumes the presumption of innocence.

“Anybody who runs for public office has to know there is going to be scrutiny,” Sobel said. “If you’ve got some skeletons in the closet, you’ve got to get ahead of it. That’s politics 101.”

Court documents detail conflict

Documents obtained in-person from Sonoma County Superior Court include a description of the events leading up to the ex-boyfriend seeking legal intervention.

The documents describe a rocky relationship between the couple, which started in July 2025 and ended two months later after a series of arguments and “emotional volatility,” according to the ex-boyfriend. The couple continued to meet occasionally from Sept. 8 though early October 2025, he said in court documents. However, the relationship became “unstable and emotionally abusive,” he alleged. The ex-boyfriend decided to distance himself, he said in court documents, traveling to South Lake Tahoe in early October “to create separation and protect my peace of mind.”

Petaluma Voice attempted to get a comment from the ex-boyfriend to clarify the incidents described in the documents, but received no reply. On Saturday, Oct. 11, Moreda attempted to visit the ex-boyfriend in South Lake Tahoe to work things out, according to a text thread that is included as documentation in court documents. The thread starts at 2:07 p.m. with Moreda asking if he was taking her on a date that night. When he didn’t respond, she said she would take that as a yes and was on her way.

“Sorry, I’m day-drinking a bit and want to come work s— out with you,” according to the thread.

At 4:12 p.m., he replied to her. “You must be drinking haha have fun with your friends today.”

She immediately replied that “I’m coming to Tahoe,” and asked him to give her an address so she would “know where to aim.”

He replied, “You ain’t drinking and driving,” to which she responded: “Sure am!” Then she clarified, “I stopped drinking almost 2 hours ago” and asked, “So what’s the address?”

He responded: “Dude I hate that you do that. [You’re] going to give me a brain aneurysm.” She responded: “Brain aneurysm it is! Where am I going?”

He alleged he did not disclose his address, and instead agreed to meet at a local restaurant. However, she said he wasn’t there when she arrived. He insisted he was. She became upset and called him a liar, according to an affidavit filed by the ex-boyfriend under penalty of perjury.

On Oct. 12, the next day, she showed up at a residence where he was staying even though he never gave her the address, he claimed. According to the affidavit, a Ring camera captured a heated exchange between them where she tells him she’s “going to break a f—ing window” and she grabs a large piece of wood and breaks a window with it.

After, she apparently heads back to the front door where she demands he open it, and falsely accuses him of being inside with someone else, according to the affidavit.

He then told her he’d call the police. After that, according to the affidavit, she responded with, “I didn’t f—ing mean to!” and “I don’t have a knife, I don’t have a gun.”

She then left, leaving a $500 check, “but she immediately resumed texting me, showing no recognition of how serious or frightening her behavior was,” he said in the affidavit.

Attachments in the court filings include several of the text messages described by the ex-boyfriend, a photograph of a broken window, a screenshot of the Ring camera footage, and a photograph of a check from Moreda to pay for the damage with “Window. I’m sorry :(” written in the memo line.

Later in the morning of Oct. 12, according to the affidavit, she continued texting, saying she was “really pissed,” although still attempting to meet and “either split or make it work.” When he tried to say the relationship was over, and unhealthy, she sent dozens of texts in an hour, the affidavit said.

The theme continued on Oct. 20 and 21, he claimed. She made threats that made him worry she would try to damage his reputation, his employment, or confront him physically, he alleged. 

He said her behavior escalated into “stalking, property destruction, and ongoing harassment. I believe she is unstable and unpredictable, and I am genuinely afraid of further harm or retaliation,” according to the affidavit.

Bumps in the road

There have been additional controversies in Moreda’s campaigns for public office. While running for Sonoma County supervisor earlier this year, she told a Press Democrat reporter she was 38, which was reported in print and online. When voter registration records showed she was 44, and she was asked to explain the discrepancy. She claimed she provided a different age to protect herself from stalkers because of her experience as a woman in the male-dominated sport of professional motorcycle racing. She came in third in the June primary.

In early August, when she filed for the mayoral post, at least two critics questioned her residency qualification. During her supervisorial campaign, she highlighted her residency on a family dairy farm outside city limits. City election laws require a candidate to have established residency inside city limits at least 30 days prior to filing for office. The city attorney required additional paperwork, which satisfied city requirements; she will remain on the ballot.

After numerous attempts to interview her about the issue over several weeks, Moreda responded briefly to the residency issue in the same Sep. 1 email.

“On residency: I live in the city of Petaluma, I’m registered to vote in Petaluma, and I met the residency requirements when I filed,” she said.

Sobel said he doesn’t believe the latest revelations will necessarily derail her campaign.

“Can she survive that? Absolutely. Everyone has gotten angry,” he said. 

“When people go to the ballot box, they’ll want to know if they received an explanation that makes sense to them,” he said.

He pointed to the responsibilities that accompany this role.

“If you’re going to be in public office, you’re going to oversee a law enforcement agency, in this case a police department in a city. If you're the mayor, you're the top person in the community,” he said. “You need to explain what happened to the best of your ability if you want to run for office.”

Tobias Young contributed to this report.

Jennifer Sawhney is a reporter and co-founder of Petaluma Voice. She can be reached at jsawhney@petalumavoice.org.

Tobias Young is an editor and reporter at Petaluma Voice. He can be reached at tyoung@petalumavoice.org.