Katie Ginella was named as the “aggressor” in a police report written up after a 2015 traffic incident, which was mentioned on last week’s first installment of The Real Housewives of Orange County reunion.
After her castmates accused her of making false claims against a man, which reportedly led to his wrongful arrest, details about Katie’s alleged behavior have been shared, as have details about the man’s lawsuit against her, which resulted in a $112,945 judgment.
In a Cobb County Police report obtained by In Touch Weekly and published on November 12, the responding officer stated that Katie had called the authorities, alleging she was being harassed and videotaped by an “aggressive driver,” and that the man was yelling at her and her kids.
Once he arrived on site, the officer witnessed the man, Sidnei Silva, recording the family and asked him to return to his vehicle. But rather than doing so, the officer said Sidnei came toward police “in an aggressive manner.”
“At this time in our investigation the primary aggressor and actual events of the situation were unclear. In an attempt to separate both parties and thoroughly investigate the incident, we requested Sidnei to stay in his vehicle, however, Sidnei refused to comply,” the report stated, claiming Sidnei had been disorderly and gotten in the way of their investigation.
“Due to Sidnei’s actions and yelling in public I placed Sidnei in my patrol car,” the officer noted.
At that point, Katie told the cop that the man had been tailgating her closely, given her the middle finger, and honked loudly at her. She also said Sidnei was recording her as he drove, which made her kids cry and prompted her to pull over and get out of her car. But when she did, she claimed Sidnei blocked her in so she couldn’t get back to the vehicle.
Once taken to a detention center, Sidney informed police officers that he had video proof of what actually went down between him and Katie. In turn, an officer watched two clips “that showed Katie get out of her vehicle and tell Sidnei to stop recording her. Based off what I witnessed in the video Sidnei did not block her path to her vehicle.”
Sidnei denied he had followed Katie and explained that he had witnessed her texting and driving with her children in the car as she swerved in and out of lanes, and he rolled down his window to tell her to stop. As a result, as noted by Sidnei, Katie followed him home and confronted him.
“Sidnei said when we arrived we were on the street in front of his residence and if he was following Katie then his vehicle should be parked behind Katie’s vehicle,” the report said. “I corroborated some of Sidnei’s statements because when I arrived on scene Sidnei’s vehicle was in front of Katie’s vehicle. When I was evaluating all the testimonial and physical evidence I concluded that Katie was the aggressor on the road; however; when I arrived on scene Sidnei was the primary aggressor.”
Although the officer reprimanded Sidnei for filming Katie, they dropped the charges he was facing, which included false imprisonment, disorderly conduct, and reckless driving, and Katie wasn’t charged.
The following year, however, Katie was sued by Sidnei. In a separate case, Cobb County and the police officer involved were named as additional defendants.
In his case against Katie, the man explained that he was triggered by Katie texting and driving because his brother had been killed by a driver who was texting years prior, and he shook his head at her. He then said that Katie responded to his disapproval by following him to his house and parked her vehicle behind his work van.
Sidnei requested over $100,000 in damages, and Katie was ultimately dealt with a default judgment of $112,945 in 2018 after failing to respond to the case. That same year, Sidnei dismissed his federal lawsuit.
In other RHOC news, Katie opened up about what is still to come on the reunion during an interview with Us Weekly on November 12.
“[Alexis Bellino] came in a little hot, but she’s only given a certain amount of time on the stage,” Katie teased. “She was a friend this season, so you’re like, ‘OK, you have an hour. Get out there.’ You will see some receipts that she brings that I think some people might change their mind about the way they view some things.”
As fans well know, Alexis has been in the middle of the drama despite her “friend” position, mainly because she’s engaged to John Janssen, 62, the former boyfriend of Shannon Beador, 60, who is currently suing his ex for a $75,000 facelift.
Although Alexis and Shannon will likely never be friends, or even cordial, Katie is doing her best not to pick sides.
“I like Alexis because after my aunt died — and three days later, my father-in-law died — Alexis was there for me,” Katie shared. “What she’s given to me is what I’m going to give to her, and it’s been kindness and love. Does she come in hot? Absolutely, but you’ll see.”
While her first reunion wasn’t the easiest to film, Katie said she watched the first episode, which discussed how she temporarily lost custody of her children, with her daughter Kaili.
“We sat on the couch and cried because it was using my past as a weapon against me,” she noted. “I feel like it’s something that I got through, and I’m stronger and better for it. My daughter and I are standing here happy, healthy, loving, kind, because we had to go through that. So the fact that it was kind of used against me, that was the most hurtful.”
As for her future with Heather Dubrow, 55, who she feuded with throughout season 18, Katie said she hopes they “can move on.”
“I don’t know about [Emily Simpson]. She seems to really, really hate me and I’m sad about that because I thought we were good. I really did. … But I can move on,” she added.
RHOC Live Viewing Thread – This is also the live viewing thread for part two of The Real Housewives of Orange County season 18 reunion, so feel free to comment and chat below as the new episode airs tonight at 9/8c on Bravo.
