Oscar®-winner Halle Berry has been granted a temporary restraining order against a man she says appeared at her Hollywood Hills home three times in three days. INSIDE EDITION has the latest.
Halle Berry's accused stalker appeared in a Los Angeles courtroom today. 27-year-old Richard Franco allegedly terrorized the actress at her own home for three straight nights.
Franco has been charged with felony stalking.
In a court report, Berry described how she fled in terror when she saw the intruder, saying she "ran as fast as I could."
In the report, which was just made public, Berry said she was at home with her manager and glanced into the gated backyard.
"I was shocked to see a complete stranger, carrying something in his hands and approaching us," Berry said. "I screamed, 'There's a guy in my yard!' "
Fearing for her life, she said she fled to a panic room at her home in the Hollywood Hills and watched what happened next on a surveillance monitor installed in the security room.
It sounds like a scene from the Jodie Foster move Panic Room, in which a woman and her daughter hide in a specially fortified chamber while a gang invades her home.
Berry said she watched on the panic room monitor as the stalker "calmly walked away from my home."
But the very next night he was back, Berry said. "I sensed someone behind me and turned to see the same intruder standing less than a foot behind me staring at me through my glass kitchen door."
"Panicking and in fear of my life, I quickly hit the deadbolt lock on the glass door," she added. "I grabbed my phone and ran as fast as I could upstairs, slamming each door behind me as I ran. I got upstairs to a safe place, locked myself inside and dialed 911."
Once again, she says, the intruder got away
Berry hired armed security guards to patrol the grounds of her estate. They also gave her a walkie-talkie in case of emergency. Lucky they did, because that night there was another incident.
"Around 10:00 pm, our nanny departed," Berry said, "which left me alone in my home with my 3-year-old daughter."
"Almost immediately after our nanny left, my walkie-talkie activated and I was instructed to get to safety as quickly as possible with my daughter and stay there."
This time police say Berry's stalker was caught.
Berry has been granted a temporary restraining order against Franco, who has been charged with felony stalking.
Select "Download a PDF" to read Berry's statement.
