Apple got a temporary restraining order against a woman it says has claimed to be married to Tim Cook and drove to his home to try to talk with him

• Apple won a temporary restraining order against a woman the company alleges is stalking Tim Cook.
• It says the woman emailed Cook roughly 200 times in 2020, sending photos of a loaded handgun and ammunition in some messages.
• The woman drove to Cook’s Palo Alto home last fall and told police she “could get violent,” Apple says.

Apple has been granted a temporary restraining order against a woman the company alleges has been harassing and stalking CEO Tim Cook since late 2020.

The company requested the restraining order on Thursday and it was granted on Friday; the order was made public Monday, as first reported by The Mercury News.

In its application for the restraining order, Apple said the 45-year-old woman has repeatedly claimed on Twitter to be Cook’s wife and mother to twin children with him.

The document also says she emailed Cook roughly 200 times between October 2020 and mid-November 2020. Apple said the emails “showed a significant escalation in tone, becoming threatening and highly disturbing.” The company alleges that, in some of these emails, the woman sent Cook photos of a loaded handgun she said she purchased, as well as a photo of ammunition. 

In the fall of 2021, the woman drove from her home in McLean, Virginia, to Cook’s home in Palo Alto, California, and asked to speak with him, the filing says. The Palo Alto Police Department responded, and the woman told officers she was staying in town and that she “could get violent,” according to the document. Police did not find weapons in her vehicle.

Apple said the woman has also been opening fraudulent corporations in California, New York, and Virginia, and listing Cook as a director, corporate officer, or agent for service of process. In other instances, the woman listed Cook’s home address or corporate Apple offices as contact addresses for these corporations, the company said in its application for the restraining order.

Apple added in the filing that it believes the woman “may be armed and is still in the South Bay Area and intends to return to Apple’s CEO’s residence or locate him otherwise in the near future.”

The restraining order expires March 29, when a hearing is scheduled in the matter.

In early 2020, Apple was also granted a restraining order against a different person the company alleged harassed and stalked Cook.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.