Man charged for stalking Halle Berry

Halle Berry. AFP photo

LOS ANGELES—A man was charged Wednesday for stalking Halle Berry after he repeatedly turned up at her Hollywood home, in what the Oscar-winning US actress said had “terrorized” her and her family.

Richard Franco, 27, allegedly went to Berry’s Hollywood Hills home several times between Saturday and Monday this week, when he was arrested at 11:15 pm by the former Bond girl’s personal security guards.

“Richard Franco is a stranger to me and I have no desire to have any contact with him,” Berry told the court in a statement. “He has terrorized me and my family in three consecutive incidents over the last three days.”

“This person has jeopardized not only my own personal safety, but also the safety and well-being of my family,” she said, adding that she was “extremely frightened of him and what he might do to me or those I love.”

On Tuesday Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Carol Boas Goodson ordered Franco to stay 100 yards away from 44-year-old Berry and her daughter if he is released from jail.

Franco, who is on probation for a battery offence, could be jailed for up to three years if convicted, according to the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office.

Berry, famous for the “X-Men” movie and as a Bond girl in “Die Another Day,” won a coveted best actress Oscar in 2002 for her turn in “Monster’s Ball,” the first such award to an African American actress.