Nanny Who Wouldn't Leave Spotted Hiding in Car at Police Station
— -- In another bizarre development, the former live-in nanny who a family said "refused to leave" after being fired, was spotted by press hiding in her car at the Upland Police Station in California.
Diane Stretton is being accused of squatting in a family's home after being initially hired as a live-in nanny.
Stretton arrived at a local police station Friday because she thought she was being followed, according to ABC station KABC-TV. Police confirmed that the person following her was a photographer and said she could leave. However, rather than leave Stretton remained in her car hiding under a windshield cover and didn't leave the parking lot until around 3 a.m.
Stretton initially grabbed headlines after Marcella and Ralph Bracamonte of Upland, Calif., said that Stretton refused to leave their home after they fired her from her job as live-in nanny. The couple told ABC News that a few weeks after they hired Stretton, she refused to work, saying she had health problems. Eventually she refused to leave her room except to come out for food, the couple said.
When the family asked Stretton to leave, she refused and allegedly threatened the couple that she would sue for elder abuse and wrongful firing.
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Diane Stretton has a long history with litigation and is listed on California's Vexatious Litigant List, which includes people who have been found to bring legal action that is frivolous or repetitive.
Bracamonte called the police when Stretton first refused to leave, but the cops declined to do anything, saying it was a civil matter. Lt. John Moore of the Upland Police Department confirmed to ABC News that there is no immediate action that can be taken against Stretton, saying "generally, once somebody has established residency, you have to go through a formal eviction process."
While Stretton initially refused to leave the Bracamonte home, Marcella Bracamonte confirmed to ABC News that Stretton disappeared from the home early Thursday morning.
"She left around 7 a.m. yesterday morning and she never came back," Bracamonte told ABC News on Friday.
The former nanny was not seen until Friday, when she was spotted by the press as she arrived at a local police station according to KABC-TV.
It was unclear whether Stretton would return for her belongings or file suit against the Bracamonte family as they claimed she threatened to do.
Court documents obtained by ABC News revealed that Stretton was involved in at least six lawsuits in Riverside, Calif., since 2005, four in which she was the plaintiff, one in which she was the defendant and one in which she was the petitioner.
The majority of the lawsuits were directed at her own family members, especially her two sisters. According to documents, Stretton tried to block her sisters from selling family property.
Last year, Stretton even sued her son, Michael, according to court records, for property damage and personal injury.
Court documents show that when Stretton's father, John Richardson, died in 2000, his will included Stretton's two sisters, Donna Tobey and Sharon Freeburn. Richardson "specifically and expressly omitted Stretton," according to court documents.
