The man who sued Real Housewives of Orange County star Katie Ginella for allegedly making false claims to police about him spoke exclusively to In Touch.
Sidnei Silva spoke to In Touch about the incident involving Katie, 40, on April 12, 2015, in Georgia, and his plans to hire a lawyer to help him collect on the $112,945 default judgment he was awarded.
As In Touch first reported, Sidnei sued Katie and accused her of making false allegations to police that led to him being wrongfully arrested. Sidnei told In Touch that Katie was “crazy.”
He said he was driving on the date in question when he saw Katie swerving in and out of traffic.
He said, “I was behind her the whole time.” Sidnei said when he approached Katie’s car on the road he saw her texting with children in the car. He said, “The only thing I did was I looked at her when we stopped at a light.”
He said he shook his head but didn’t say a word. Sidnei said he continued on his way home.
He said he pulled up to his mailbox and “almost immediately she stopped behind me.”
Sidnei said Katie had followed him home. He said Katie got out of her car and started yelling at him.
He said she asked him, “What do you think I was doing back there?” He told her she was swerving. Sidnei told In Touch that Katie continued to shout at him. He said he mentioned that her children were not wearing seatbelts.
He said that he started to record Katie. “You come to my house to confront me with kids in the car. You must be crazy,” he said.
Sidnei said, “She started cussing me out. She lost it.” He said that he told Katie she was outside his home, but she didn’t believe him. “We will see about that,” he said she told him.
Sidnei told In Touch he believed Katie didn’t believe he could live in a nice house because he was driving his work van at the time. He said Katie called the police claiming he was preventing her from leaving.
Sidnei said that Katie told the police a “big lie.”
He said when the police arrived it appeared they immediately trusted Katie’s word. He said Katie watched from her car as the police handcuffed him and put him in the back of a police car.
Police arrested him after he allegedly failed to follow commands. He was booked on charges of false imprisonment, disorderly conduct, and reckless driving. The charges were dropped after the police reviewed the evidence and determined Katie was the “aggressor” on the road.
Sidnei was awarded a default judgment in his lawsuit after Katie failed to respond.
On RHOC, she claimed she was not properly served with the paperwork. Sidnei told In Touch that he hasn’t watched Real Housewives of Orange County.
He said he will be reaching out to a California attorney to start the process of collecting on the judgment. He had tried to place a lien on Katie’s home in Florida but ran into issue due to state law. Sidnei said that he “definitely” plans to do something.
For her part, Katie told police that she pulled over and Sidnei had followed her.
She said that he was preventing her from leaving. Katie told police that wanted them to come out because she did not want Sidnei to follow her home.
Katie told police that Sidnei began to tailgate her and flicked her off while driving. She claimed he started recording her while driving and yelling, which scared her children.
She claimed Sidnei blocked her path and prevented her from returning to the car. Katie repeated her claims on the first part of the RHOC reunion.
Sidnei also sued Cobb County and the officer involved in the arrest. The case was dismissed after the parties reached a deal.
As In Touch first reported, Katie was also involved in a bitter custody war with her ex-husband, Andrew Sundseth.
