Vineyard Press

The following story is true. The names of victims have been changed to protect the innocent. A nightmare began on Eagle Peak Place thirteen years ago. Finally, after the city of Rancho Cucamonga took action, life returned to normalcy. Or it may never be completely normal. Only time will tell. All documentation for this story was taken from official court records.

My involvement in this nightmare began when I drove down Eagle Peak Place in 1997 to visit my friends the Carrols. As I coasted downhill toward their home, an aggressive-looking man ran out in the middle of the street behind me and stared at my vehicle. As I observed him in my rear view mirror, he continued staring me down until I parked. I felt odd, and slightly intimidated, as if I was somehow violating his space by driving onto “his” street. I knew then that this was going to be interesting.
It turns out that the man was Carlos Herrera. Since 1996, he had been intimidating everyone on the block. Allegedly, he ran a loan shark business. He would loan distressed people money at exorbitant rates and make them sign over the title to their cars in the event they couldn’t handle the payments. Since the rates were allegedly upwards of 30% (not annualized, but monthly), most borrowers defaulted. Eagle Peak Place and surrounding streets became a parking lot of cars with license plates removed. This was Carlos Herrera’s used car lot.
Apparently, the business thrived. Carlos intimidated some neighbors into moving. When realtors and potential buyers came to look at homes on the street, Carlos would yell, intimidate, threaten, and play extra loud music. Who ended up buying the houses? Carlos Herrera’s girlfriend and common law wife- Jennifer Mason. Somehow, Carlos Herrera and associates stayed under the law enforcement radar just barely enough to avoid serious trouble. And his neighbors were too intimidated to fight back.
Below is a sampling of the exploits of Carlos Herrera. Ask yourself if you could tolerate these conditions. Is this the quality of life that any Rancho Cucamonga resident deserves?

Declaration of Elizabeth Leslie

My house is immediately adjacent to the property owned by Jennifer Mason. Carlos Herrera is Ms. Mason’s boyfriend, and he has lived with her at that address over the years. Mr. Herrera continually harasses, threatens, and intimidates me. He began harassing me by frequently driving across my driveway to park on the side of his house, blocking an easement I have on the border of his property. Mr. Herrera has his own driveway, and it was not necessary for him to drive across mine to access his. I confronted him about it and he told me, “Bitch, mind your own business” and spit at me. I then contacted the Rancho Cucamonga Police about the incident, and when they arrived, Mr. Herrera immediately entered my garage and began yelling at me for calling the police. This required the officer to remove Mr. Herrera from my property and take him back to his own yard. I was afraid to pursue further action such as obtaining a restraining order for fear that he would perhaps inflict damage to my property. In 1997, Mr. Herrera and his children set up a basketball hoop against my house, using the wall of my property that faces his home as a backstop. The basket was positioned such that the ball would repeatedly strike my home, often with such force that things fell off the wall inside my home. On numerous occasions, I asked him to move the basket away, but he refused, and he told me he “can do whatever he wants to do.”
In 1998, I attempted to paint my house. While the painters were at my home, Mr. Herrera confronted them and harassed them to the point that they left the job and refused to complete the work they started. This caused a three-month delay and added expense to complete the job.
In July, 1999, Mr. Herrera began doing work on his house. He often performed this work late at night, sometimes as late as 1-2 a.m. Much of the work was performed using a jackhammer and flood lights, and as a result I had to sleep on the couch in the living room because it was too loud and bright in my bedroom. I have no doubt that Mr. Herrera conducted this work at these odd hours to be disruptive and to keep me awake late at night. During this construction, Mr. Herrera also removed an earthen slope between our properties to the point that his excavation eventually exposed my home’s foundation. The resulting ditch was unsightly, caused water to pool at its base, and made it impossible for me to access my electrical breaker box and other utilities for more than six months. He then piled wood along the side of my house, and I attribute the subsequent termite damage to my home to the old wood he put there. Mr. Herrera also dug a three to four foot deep ditch next to my driveway, and left the dirt from the excavation in a large pile next to the driveway. During the construction period, while trying to pull into my garage, I observed Mr. Herrera beat on the side of my home with a two-by-four. He called me a “bitch,” and told me I “better hide.”
In 2001, Mr. Herrera made an addition to his house and built a wall along my property line. Mr. Herrera left the side of the wall that faced my property unfinished, so I bought the necessary supplies, and finished the wall myself, after it stood unfinished for over a year. I spent time stuccoing and painting the wall so that it matched the façade of my home. I did all of this work on the weekends because I did not have time to do it during the week because of my job. Shortly after I finished doing this work, I heard a banging on my wall, and heard Herrera yell, “there you go bitch.” I was afraid to go outside, so I opened the garage door just enough so that I could peer out from under it, and saw that the wall had been graffitied. Large X’s were painted on the rose bushes in front of the wall, killing the rose bushes. I could not leave the wall with the graffiti on it, so I again spent my own money to purchase paint and fix the wall. I decided the best time to do the work would be at 6 a.m., because I could avoid Mr. Herrera, who typically did not come outside at that time in the morning.
When I returned home from work a few days later, I found the names of Mr. Herrera’s youngest son and daughter painted on the wall with various obscenities. I called the police and when they arrived, Ms. Mason (the children’s mother) admitted that she encouraged the children to graffiti the wall because she felt that it was their wall and they could do anything they wanted to it. For the third time I re-stuccoed the wall, spending a whole Saturday on the job to completely cover up the graffiti left by the Herrera children. The wall was then graffitied again. Mr. Herrera came over while I was doing yardwork in the front yard. He told me he had graffitied the wall and would do it again, and stated, “it is his wall and he could do anything he wanted with it.” At this point I decided to let some time pass before I felt it was safe to slowly paint over the graffiti, one small section at a time. Part of the wall Mr. Herrera built effectively fenced me off from my utilities so they are not accessible for reading or maintenance. There was no practical or engineering reason for Mr. Herrera to wall-off my utility meters.
In 2006 my roof required work to replace the tarpaper underneath the tiles. Again, to avoid a confrontation, I informed Mr. Herrera that there would be workers on my roof, and he told me he had no problem with the work. But as soon as the roofers began the job, I saw Mr. Herrera harass the roofers and tell them they were trespassing (even though they never entered his property). Mr. Herrera threatened to call the police, and he did in fact call the police on September 16, 2006. After the police arrived, Mr. Herrera shouted insults and obscenities at me, and the roofers walked off the job. The roofers were so intimidated by Mr. Herrera’s harassment that they requested police presence if they were to come back to work on my roof. Ultimately, however, this encounter resulted in the necessity to hire new roofers and caused a significant delay before I was able to have the work completed.

Declaration of Pamela Bush

My property is located four houses from the property owned by Jennifer Mason, where Carlos Herrera resides. I live with my grandson, who was thirteen years old at the time of this declaration. I have had different family members live with me since I moved into the home. Herrera has repeatedly harassed and intimidated me, severely injured my pet, and I am afraid for my grandchild’s safety.
About eight or nine years ago, my wood fence blew down, and my small pug dog, Bailey, wandered into Herrera’s property. After walking the neighborhood calling for my dog, I found my dog with a neighbor who lived across the street from Mr. Herrera, and who had retrieved the injured dog. I took Bailey to the veterinarian, who diagnosed Bailey with a broken leg. After he casted the dog’s leg, the veterinarian informed me that the injury was consistent with being struck by a heavy object. Convinced that Mr. Herrera had injured the dog, I went over to his house to confront him about it, and I told him he hurt my dog, that there were witnesses to this incident, and to stay away from my family and I. He threatened me and said, “you don’t know who you’re messing with bitch.”
About five years ago, I walked over to a neighbor’s house for a party. I looked both ways across the street and noticed Mr. Herrera sitting in his parked truck with the engine running. Since I did not see any vehicles coming, I started crossing the street, at which point Mr. Herrera put the truck in gear, screeched from a stop, and drove right at me. I froze in fear, and Mr. Herrera slammed on his brakes at the last minute, almost hitting me. He apparently thought the entire incident was funny because he laughed at me as he backed up. He abruptly drove off.
I have repeatedly witnessed Mr. Herrera stare at my thirteen-year-old grandson in a manner I believe is intended to intimidate him. The way Mr. Herrera looks at my grandson makes me fear for the child’s safety. Because I am concerned about my grandson’s safety around Mr. Herrera, I told my grandson never to talk to him and to stay away from him and his house when he is outside in the neighborhood. The problem with Mr. Herrera is so severe that one of my grandson’s friends is not permitted to come over to play because Mr. Herrera lives on the street.
A few years ago while I was in front of my house, I saw Mr. Herrera lift his shirt to display a silver handgun tucked into his pants, in what I believe was an overt effort to frighten me. I have seen guns before, and I recognized it as a gun from the short distance he was from me. I believe Mr. Herrera showed me his gun to intimidate me.
On one occasion, police came to talk to me about a report of some kids who had vandalized Christmas lights in the neighborhood. That same evening, the police also received a separate call about Mr. Herrera’s truck that was illegally parked. I think Mr. Herrera saw me talking to the police and wrongly inferred that I was speaking about his truck. I believe this because, the next morning when I awoke, my tires were slashed. I believe that Herrera thought I called the police in response to his truck, and in retaliation he slashed my tires.
I witnessed Mr. Herrera’s daughter and youngest son graffiti Ms. Leslie’s wall. The Herrera children spray-painted Ms. Leslie’s wall and left it a horrible, unsightly mess. Mr. Herrera frequently tailgates me while driving. I see him leave his house to follow me, tailing me by only a couple of feet for blocks until I pull over to let him pass. He frequently spits in my direction when I walk on the sidewalk by my home. I used to be active in the neighborhood, but I am afraid to do so for fear that Mr. Herrera will retaliate or verbally abuse me if I forge close relationships with neighbors whom Mr. Herrera targets. I have had to change my lifestyle since Mr. Herrera moved into the neighborhood and I feel as though I have become a prisoner in my own home. I am fearful for the safety of my family and property because of Mr. Herrera. I want to move as soon as possible, but I am afraid to allow a real estate agent to put a lock box on the door or a “for sale” sign in front of my house, because I believe Mr. Herrera would retaliate by damaging my property.

Other choice tidbits:

Herrera has brandished a handgun and made death threats against at least two neighbors.

He and an accomplice attacked a neighbor and broke his ribs with a large rock. Criminal charges in San Bernardino Superior Court are pending against Herrera for the attack.

At a recent court hearing for the above incident, Herrera made throat-slashing gestures to the victim, and was observed by an attorney, who had Herrera arrested again.

Herrera would stand at the fence-line of a neighbor and stare at a teenage girl through her bedroom window as she changed clothes at night.

Herrera and his brother lurked in the neighborhood until female neighbors were leaving for work and then followed them through town, and even tailgated them on the freeway, flashing their lights at them as they exited off the freeway.

Herrera followed a man and his wife out of the neighborhood, and blocked the intersection of Milliken and Vintage, preventing them from leaving. He and a few of his friends would drive slowly past people’s homes and stare menacingly (mad dogging).

Herrera ran into a neighbor’s house without permission looking for a child he suspected of throwing rocks at one of the many vehicles he had repossessed as a loan shark. The child’s mother was terrified.

Many families moved away, selling for not-so-attractive prices because realtors and homebuyers were constantly harassed and intimidated. Herrera ended up owning three of the houses. On one occasion when Mr. Herrera saw someone come to a house for a showing, he came within shouting distance to tell potential buyers that they should buy somewhere else because if they purchased the home, “you’ll have to deal with me.” He would also drive his van in front of an open house and turn up his blaring car stereo.

At least two couples in the neighborhood initiated divorce proceedings. The stress from Herrera was cited as a cause for family instability.

When Herrera approached a neighbor in an assault with a deadly weapon, Herrera’s young daughter was heard screaming, “Kick his ass.”

Herrera introduced himself to one neighbor and tried to persuade him to commit insurance fraud. Herrera followed this gentleman into his house without him knowing it, whereupon he proposed that the neighbor take his wife to Las Vegas for the weekend so he could flood the house and file a claim to collect money from his insurance company. When the neighbor declined, Herrera, from that time forward, began harassing and intimidating the neighbor and his family.

Neighbors found tires slashed, windows smashed, and soda, sugar and urine put into the gas tanks of vehicles.

Just over a year ago, the City of Rancho Cucamonga initiated a nuisance abatement hearing against Herrera and associates. As a result, and because the law finally figured out what Herrera was up to, Herrera packed up and left. The neighbors won a judgment against Herrera. Jennifer Mason has been ordered to notify San Bernardino County Sheriffs and the City Attorney at least five days prior to any visit to the City of Rancho Cucamonga by her or her husband, Carlos Herrera, for any reason, including court appearances.

It appears that the neighborhood is gradually returning to normal. But what is normal? How many lives have been shattered after 13 years of threats and intimidation? A neighborhood under siege for 13 years. How could it have gone on so long? Thirteen years of kids not being able to play outside, or walk home from school in peace. Marriages broken, nerves shattered- all because of a family led by an anti-social, violent predator.

Could the city have been more proactive in abating this nuisance any sooner? When I left the council in 1998, I hoped that Eagle Peak Place would find peace. When I was elected again in 2002, the problem had worsened, much to my dismay. Happily, the steps have been put in place to deal with neighborhood terrorists much more swiftly. The nuisance abatement process has been tested, and is ready to fire. If any Rancho Cucamonga resident has been experiencing bullying or any form of harassment or intimidation, please let us know at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Our city and its people are too good to let anyone’s quality of life suffer. That’s just not what Rancho Cucamonga is all about.

Post script: Jennifer Mason, Carlos Herrera and kids have relocated out of state. The police of that city will be receiving a tremendously thick file in the very near future.

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