Apple Gets Restraining Order Against Woman Who Reportedly Stalked Tim Cook, Emailed Loaded Gun Pics
09:29 GMT 26.01.2022 (Updated: 11:03 GMT 26.01.2022)
© AP Photo / Richard Drew
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Apple CEO Tim Cook, who receives alerts when he’s tagged on Twitter, first learned in late 2020 that he was the subject of an obsession by a woman using the surname name “Cook” who claimed she was his wife and he was father to her twins. The suspect tweeted about the purported relationship a dozen times on Halloween in 2020.
Apple has been granted a restraining order against a woman believed to have been stalking its CEO Tim Cook for more than a year, according to court filings first reported by Mercury News.
The order bars the 45-year-old Virginia woman, named Julia Lee Choi, purportedly from the South Bay area, from possessing guns, approaching any Apple employees including Cook, entering any Apple property or going to Cook’s Palo Alto residence.
“Given the respondent's erratic, threatening, and bizarre behavior, including her direct contact with Apple's Executive team, Apple's CEO, and with Apple's Corporate and Security teams, all Apple employees should be protected by this restraining order,” the document states.
The court documents were unsealed on 24 January by Santa Clara County Superior Court. A hearing has been scheduled for 29 March.
Earlier, in an application filed last week, Apple accused the woman of “erratic, threatening, and bizarre behaviour” as it presented copies of photos, emails and tweets that have been attributed to Julia Lee Choi.
The company added it believed the woman “may be armed and is still in the South Bay Area and intends to return to (Cook’s) residence or locate him otherwise in the near future.”
The Apple chief executive, who came out as gay in 2014, reportedly first learned of the woman's obsession with him via Twitter. Using the last name "Cook" on the social media platform, the woman claimed that she was his wife and that the was the father of her two twins.
🧑⚖️Yay!
— Julia Lee Cook (@JuliaLeeChoi1) October 31, 2020
My bed MAN!
My bathroom MAN!
My kitchen MAN!
My Cleaning MAN!
My Husband!
My MAN is Tim Cook !🧑⚖️😍👪😉
My kids Daddy~!
#NewProfilePic pic.twitter.com/YHIKgwruIO
— Julia Lee Cook (@JuliaLeeChoi1) October 31, 2020
According to Apple’s court filings, between October and mid-November 2020, the woman reportedly emailed Cook around 200 times, with the messages displaying a "significant escalation in tone" and later becoming "threatening and highly disturbing."
till 13:00 PM ( Military hour) , I notify you both unfollow each other. I can smell, see, and feel you both.
— Julia Lee Cook (@JuliaLeeChoi1) October 31, 2020
Tim Cook is my bed MAN!😍👊🤦♂️, My husband, My Twins' Daddy. Stop doing that shit!
On 3 November 2020, the suspect allegedly emailed Cook a photo of a package of ammunition, writing the next day:
“I warned and told you stop trying to kill me. You made me to buy this instead of going for Christmas. I will never forgive forget you.”
Other missives are also believed to have contained photos of a snub-nosed revolver and cartridges, with at least one message stating that the woman’s patience was "almost done."
According to the court filings, the woman also began registering fake companies with "highly offensive corporate names" with Cook named as an officer, director, or agent.
By September 2021, the woman allegedly "became obsessed" with Tim Cook's Palo Alto condo, allegedly sending him an email telling him that she was “applying [to be] your roommate in palo alto.”
The suspect is believed to have driven from Virginia to Palo Alto and showed up at Cook’s home on 22 October 2021. When she told security she wanted to speak with Cook, they asked her to leave and she complied. However, the woman soon returned to the property, then left and waited in her car, according to the application.
When Palo Alto police responded to the alleged trespassing, the woman was stopped “after attempting to flee”. The suspect reportedly told police she was staying in Palo Alto and “could get violent”. Officers did not find any evidence of weapons in her car.
21 February 2020, 14:01 GMT
This is not the first time Apple has gotten a restraining order against someone believed to be stalking Tim Cook.
In February 2020, a judge ordered an Indian-origin man Rakesh “Rocky” Sharma to keep away from Cook after he allegedly left flowers and champagne at Cook’s Silicon Valley property. The man had also purportedly made phone calls with "threatening statements."
