The El Paso County affidavit describes a Ring camera, a white drone and a search warrant on a Cadillac.
HORIZON CITY, Texas — Video evidence sits at the center of an El Paso County stalking case after deputies say a woman’s former boyfriend removed her doorbell camera and picked up a spinning drone outside her home.
The case against Cristobal Gonzalez, 26, turns on what deputies say they could see on recordings and inside his vehicle after a May 23 family violence call. Gonzalez is accused of stalking, theft of property and criminal trespass. The woman, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer, told deputies he followed her home, damaged property and left her afraid because of earlier incidents between them.
The first piece of video came from the front door. The woman emailed doorbell camera footage to a deputy after the call. The footage allegedly showed Gonzalez arriving at the home and removing a Ring doorbell camera from an outside wall. The complaint says she called 911 after the video feed stopped because she feared Gonzalez would try to enter the house and cause bodily injury. That loss of video was not a small detail in the affidavit. It marked the point when the woman said she moved from watching him outside to barricading herself and her son in a bedroom with her CBP-issued duty weapon nearby.
The second piece of video involved a white drone. According to the complaint, a clip showed Gonzalez getting out of his car, walking toward the front sidewalk, picking up a white drone while its propellers were still spinning and throwing it into his car. The deputy wrote that the drone was not visible on the sidewalk before Gonzalez arrived. Based on the full set of circumstances, the deputy wrote, the drone may have been used by Gonzalez to surveil or stalk the woman. The sheriff’s office later said investigators recovered surveillance footage that allegedly showed Gonzalez using a drone to watch the house. The reports do not say whether the drone’s own memory contained footage.
The events captured on video followed a morning drive from work to home. The woman told deputies she left work, picked up her son in West El Paso and returned to the 600 block of Paseo Modesto Drive near Eastlake Boulevard and Darrington Road. As she pulled into her garage, she saw Gonzalez’s 2020 gray Cadillac CT5 parked on the street, according to the complaint. The garage door closed before Gonzalez could get out of his vehicle and enter. Unable to get into the garage, deputies said, he went to the front door and knocked several times before the doorbell camera was removed.
Deputies arrived after a family violence in progress call at about 7:40 a.m. The deputy had been told while driving to the scene that the woman was a CBP officer and had said she would use a gun if Gonzalez entered the home. Gonzalez was not there when the deputy arrived. The woman was hesitant to answer the door because she thought he might still be outside. The complaint says she was wearing her CBP duty uniform and crying hysterically. She told deputies she and Gonzalez share a child, were no longer dating and did not live together. She also described an extensive history of family violence and criminal trespassing involving him.
The search for Gonzalez moved quickly to the 12000 block of Powick Drive near Horizon City. Deputies went there about 8:15 a.m. and found his car. They saw a white drone on the front passenger seat, the complaint says. When deputies approached Gonzalez, he immediately started emptying his pockets and said, “I already know,” according to the affidavit. He was handcuffed and placed in a patrol vehicle. After a deputy read him his Miranda rights, he said, “I wish to plead the 5th,” the complaint states. Investigators later served a warrant on the car and recovered a drone and controller.
The theft of property allegation is tied to the doorbell camera, while the stalking allegation is tied to the broader pattern deputies described. The complaint lists earlier reports involving the former couple. A March 3 domestic violence call was cleared as verbal only, with no further information provided. A separate domestic criminal trespass incident resulted in warrants for Gonzalez. Deputies said the woman reported repeated offenses and escalating aggressive behavior. She requested an emergency protective order. Public reports on the case said court records did not show whether a judge granted one. The exact value of the doorbell camera was not described in the reports.
Gonzalez’s alleged words after the arrest became another point in the evidence record. Deputies took him to the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Peter J. Herrera Patrol Station and placed him in a holding cell. While there, he made an unsolicited statement, according to the complaint. “I’ll be back, the laws are pointless,” Gonzalez allegedly said. The affidavit does not give more context for the statement or say whether anyone asked a question before it. The phrase, as reported by deputies, appears to connect the morning’s allegations with the woman’s concern that the behavior would continue.
The court process began with a booking at the El Paso County jail on May 23. Gonzalez’s bond was first set at $27,000. At a May 25 bond reduction hearing, an El Paso County magistrate judge lowered the bond to $15,000, court records show. The records cited in reports did not state which magistrate judge handled the hearing. Gonzalez posted bail and was released the same day, according to jail logs. No attorney was named in the court records cited by the reports. A later account said his next court appearance was scheduled for July 1. The charges remain allegations unless proved in court.
The case shows how a domestic violence response can expand through digital evidence gathered in minutes. A doorbell camera allegedly recorded the removal of the device before it went offline. Another clip allegedly showed the drone being collected. Deputies then said they saw the same kind of device in the suspect’s car and later seized it with a controller through a warrant. Those steps gave investigators a chain of physical and video evidence, though several technical details remain unknown. Reports do not say what model the drone was, whether it was registered, whether it was connected to an account or how far it had flown.
The human details of the complaint remained as important as the devices. The woman said she was afraid Gonzalez would enter the house and hurt her. She had her child with her. She had her duty weapon. She had already seen his vehicle outside and then lost the video feed from the front door. Deputies said those facts, together with the prior reports and the alleged drone use, supported the charges. Gonzalez is accused of committing the offenses in El Paso County, where the court process will determine what evidence is admitted and what facts are proved.
After posting $15,000 bond, Gonzalez awaited the next stage of the El Paso County proceedings. Investigators identified the doorbell recording, drone, controller, prior reports and alleged holding cell statement as key parts of the complaint. The July 1 court setting was the next listed milestone in public reports.
Author note: Last updated July 6, 2026.