Police stalking trial starts Tuesday morning

A Huntington Beach man is expected to begin trial Tuesday for threatening and stalking a Surf City police detective.

Brian Dopler, 27, is charged with felony criminal threats and stalking of a Huntington Beach Police Department detective between Jan. 8 and Feb. 10 , according to the Orange County district attorney’s office. He pleaded not guilty to the charges in March and is expected to begin opening statements at 9 a.m. Tuesday in Courtroom C-16 at the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana.

Dopler faces a maximum sentence of three years and eight months in state prison.

Dopler is accused of calling the detective 14 times and leaving phone messages to harass him in January and February. Dopler’s messages were full of swear words and he told the detective he was being followed.

In one message Feb. 10, Dopler threatened to kill the detective and any other police officers who followed him.

The detective began investigating a case against Dopler in May 2009 for stalking and violating a protective order of which he was charged and sentenced.

He is being held on $1-million bail.

— Britney Barnes