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Actor arrested, accused of stalking Gloria Estefan

(Court TV) -- A decade before Ricky Martin, Enrique Iglesias or Christina Aguilera ever made crossing over de rigueur for Latin musicians, Gloria Estefan sang her way into America's hearts with a series of dance hits that drew on the rhythms of her native Cuba.

With her super-producer husband, Emilio Estefan, the former Miami Sound Machine songstress became the queen of Miami's burgeoning Latin music enclave. But while the couple's success attracted friends, it also made them targets for hangers-on.

One of those attracted to the duo's star power was an aspiring Venezualan actor, Juan Carlos Diaz, who the Estefans are now suing. According to the Estefans, Diaz was so determined to use them as bootstraps to fame that he stalked them, invaded their home, and groped Gloria Estefan after his efforts at friendship were rebuffed.

In the most recent twist to what has been a very public battle, Diaz was arrested Thursday by the Miami-Dade County State Attorney's Office on charges that he trespassed onto the Estefan's ritzy Star Island compound in Miami on Jan. 7, 2002.

Recorded by the Estefans' security cameras, Diaz tried to gain access to the household by telling the Estefans' staff that he was Emilio's nephew, investigators said Thursday. Diaz was not admitted, but was slipped past the gate when it opened to let an electrician out. Once inside, Diaz confronted the Estefans' private chef before storming off, police said.

"In recent years, we have seen in our community and in other jurisdictions, incidents which often begin with a trespass offense and lead to other more serious occurrences involving individuals who may or may not be in the public eye," said Miami-Dade State Attorney, Katherine Fernandez Rundle.

Diaz, who is being held in the Miami-Date County Jail with a bond of $10,000, will have a bond hearing Friday morning.

Things have not been going Diaz's way lately: The arrest took place following an 11:00 a.m. hearing in which Diaz' lawyer, high-profile attorney Ellis Rubin, dumped the one-time soap opera actor, citing "irreconcilable differences" in his motion to withdraw. Rubin was not available for comment Thursday.

Thursday's arrest was the Diaz's first criminal charge in connection with the Estefan family, but the battle between the two parties goes back two years.

And since Emilio Estefan first filed a civil lawsuit seeking a restraining order against Diaz on Jan. 18, the dispute between the power couple, who have 15 Grammy nominations and four awards between them, and Diaz has only worsened.

Diaz, who appeared in the 2000 film "Escape from Cuba," which was screened at the Miami Film Festival, and was an extra in two of Gloria Estefan's videos, fired back with a suit of his own, claiming that Emilio Estefan groped him and solicited sexual contact.

Estefan responded by adding a $1 million defamation suit against the aspiring actor to his request for a permanent restraining order. "I am not gay," Estefan said in an interview published in the Sun-Sentinel. "I love my wife, and I love my family."

According to the Estefans' lawyers, Diaz, 33, has made a habit of invading peoples lives and has a pattern of countering suits with allegations of sexual abuse. They are asking a judge to extend a temporary restraining order to ban him permanently from going to their home, business, the gym they frequent, and the stretch of Miami Beach they often walk on.

After Diaz's lawyer, Rubin, recused himself on Wednesday, a Thursday hearing scheduled in Miami Dade County Circuit Court was was cancelled, and a new hearing is expected to be scheduled for next month. Efforts to reach Diaz were unsuccessful.

According to the Estefans, their relationship with Diaz began on good footing. The couple tried to further his acting career by offering roles in two of Gloria's music videos.

But Diaz began to make a nuisance of himself, the couple claims. He followed Emilio Estefan and his bodyguard, Antonio Almeida, to the Miami Gold's Gym they frequented, allegedly telling gym staff that he worked for Emilio's company, Estefan Enterprises, to gain entrance without a membership (view the police report here).

Diaz also allegedly followed the family to school. Juan Carlos Dias, a security supervisor at the Miami prep school the Estefans' daughter attends, said he noticed Diaz hanging around the school in May 2001, and again in December 2001 — both times trailing Emilio Estefan after he dropped his daughter off.

After being continually rebuffed by Emilio Estefan, the suit alleges, Diaz escalated his attempts, moving closer to their Miami home.

The actor often appeared on the section of Miami Beach where the Estefans walked, attempting to join their group despite their best efforts to avoid him.

Diaz also zeroed in on the family's waterfront home. He appeared at Emilio Estefan's 2001 birthday party, forcing his way into a photo the producer was posing for with a group of his employees, and made a scene when Almeida the bodyguard asked him to leave, according to the suit.

"He kept asking us to take pictures with him and would not stop telling us that he wanted to be a star, singer, and actor," Emilio Estefan said in his deposition.

That wasn't the only birthday Diaz spoiled, the suit charges. A few months later, Diaz again appeared at the home, this time for Gloria Estefan's birthday. According to the suit, he accosted the singer on the dance floor and began dancing with her against her will. Then, in the early morning hours of New Year's Day 2002, he again arrived uninvited, and tried to get her to dance with him.

During a Jan. 12, 2002, phone call to the bodyguard Almeida, Diaz warned the bodyguard, "You really hurt my feelings and you will pay with the law. You'll pay. You're going to pay for it and your boss, Emilio, is going to pay for it, too ... I'm not going to take sh*t from anybody."

The Estefans have had their share of troubles, both legal and otherwise, over the years.

A near-fatal bus accident in 1990 left Gloria Estefan with a serious back injury, and in 1995, a man died after crashing his jet ski into the couple's yacht. Also in 1995, Gloria Estefan ended a four-year court fight when a New York judge dismissed a plagiarism suit brought by a salsa pianist who claimed she stole one of his lines. Emilio Estefan is currently engaged in a legal battle with Colombian singer Kike Santander over his handling of the singer's career.