The Plano Police Department initially labeled an incident as a simple case of flirting after a man followed a woman up a private staircase. However, the woman asserts that the investigation intensified only after surveillance footage of the encounter went viral.

Breanna Morello, a conservative journalist and internet influencer, was walking her dog on July 9 in Plano when a man followed her up a private staircase in her apartment building. He initially ignored Morello’s demands for him to leave, but he eventually gave up and retreated.

 

Morello told The Dallas Express she thinks Plano police only truly investigated after she posted surveillance footage online.

Although the incident occurred on July 9, she posted the footage on August 25, garnering nearly 2 million views. According to a phone call with investigators obtained by The Dallas Express, police only followed up more than a month and a half later. They stated that they identified the man on August 26 and interviewed him on August 27.

“In my opinion, they never wanted to investigate this in the first case,” Morello said. “Public pressure is exactly the reason why they started looking into this.”

Plano Police Public Information Officer J.D. Minton told The Dallas Express that investigators are still processing this case internally, so he could not comment much on the details. 

“It’s not being ignored, it’s really being looked into,” Minton said. “We want to make sure that if there’s any type of legal action that we can take, that it’s going to be legitimate, and it’s not going to be something that’s going to be overturned.”

When Morello reported the incident to Plano police at the time, an officer initially suggested it was just flirting, according to bodycam footage obtained by The Dallas Express. 

While speaking to police, the man admitted he approached Morello because he was “attracted” to her. At the time of publication, the man was not facing criminal charges.

The Incident

Morello was walking her dog near a shopping complex in northwest Plano on July 9, when a man began following her silently. Surveillance footage shows him running after her as she crossed the street just before noon.

She approached the private entrance to her apartment building, and the man slowed down, walking after her. Morello thinks he didn’t want to seem like a threat, she told The Dallas Express.

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She went inside, and he went for the door, keeping it from closing after her, following her inside. Morello walked up the small staircase, and footage shows the man speaking to her.

“It was kind of jarring for me, for someone to quickly grab the door behind me,” Morello told The Dallas Express. “I didn’t get a look at his face, but he said, ‘Excuse me, I want to pet your dog. Can I pet your dog?’ And he kept saying that to me. I just said, ‘No, get out of here. You don’t live here, get out of here.’”

Surveillance footage shows Morello continuing up the stairs, and the man starting up the flight. He looked around the stairwell. 

“The only reason why you see him looking around, he was looking for a camera,” Morello said. “That was not an innocent situation.”

At this point, Morello prepared to defend herself. Surveillance footage shows the man making a beeline for the exit. 

The Police Response

Morello called Plano police and reported the incident. According to bodycam footage, an officer arrived at her apartment just after 12:30 p.m. 

She explained what happened, and the officer took down her information. 

“I told him twice to back off and leave,” Morello told the police about the man who had followed her.

In the bodycam footage, the officer suggested that the man was trying to flirt. 

“I tell them, like, ‘Hey man, it’s not the early 2000s anymore,’” the officer reportedly said. “Even going up to a girl sometimes offends people. You’ve got to be different now.”

The officer noted the man’s behavior was “really weird” and “sketchy,” but noted that the man said nothing during the incident that broke the law.

“Technically, nothing was illegal that he did in that moment,” the officer added.

The stairwell was private property. According to an email from apartment management obtained by The Dallas Express, staff did not recognize him as a resident. 

The officer wrote in the police report – also obtained by The Dallas Express – that the man was close enough to harm Morello, but didn’t. 

“After gathering all the information, it’s possible the man was trying to conversate or flirt with Morello,” the officer wrote. “I informed Morello that the man’s behavior was strange, and I would complete an information report.”

Morello expressed concerns that investigators delayed obtaining the surveillance footage and interviewing the suspect. 

Minton could not confirm exactly when investigators obtained the surveillance, but it was apparently “shortly after” the initial interview with Morello. He also could not pinpoint when officers interviewed the suspicious man. 

Waiting For Answers

Soon after the initial police interview, Morello followed up with police officials to ensure the case was progressing. However, Morello told The Dallas Express that weeks passed before she heard anything, as investigators only followed up on August 29.

The Dallas Express obtained the August 29 phone call where an investigator updated Morello. He said officers identified the suspicious man on August 26 and interviewed him at his workplace on August 27. This was weeks after the incident, but days after Morello’s post to X. 

In another phone call the same day, a sergeant acknowledged to Morello that the man’s behavior was “suspicious” and “uncomfortable.” 

“He wanted to talk to you, introduce himself because he was attracted to you. He jogged across the street as you were going into the building, and used the dog as an intro to try to have a conversation,” the sergeant told Morello. “He admitted that he was too forward, which was clear by the video.”

The man told police Morello pulled what he thought was a gun, which is why he ran from the building, according to the sergeant. 

The sergeant asked Morello if she had a gun at the time, but she declined to answer. She told The Dallas Express she could not comment on this.

Earlier, while Morello was waiting to hear from investigators, she submitted public records requests for the surveillance footage. 

“The recording was not logged into evidence,” the department’s records supervisor told Morello on August 7. 

Morello followed up multiple times, and the supervisor responded on August 19 that the recording had been logged into the property unit. This was more than a month after the initial incident. 

Previous Threats

Morello is no stranger to threats, which is why she took this case so seriously.

After she reported on the violent pedophile group “764” earlier this year, Morello and her family began receiving threats. 

“We won’t stop until someone dies,” read multiple emails to Morello obtained by The Dallas Express. 

764 is an international ring that reportedly trades child pornography online and encourages minors to harm themselves. Federal agents arrested and charged their leaders in April. The group takes inspiration from Satanism and uses “swatting” – or false emergency calls – to target its enemies.

The threats got so bad that on April 25, the FBI issued a letter to Morello – obtained by The Dallas Express – notifying recipients she was the target of online harassment. 

Morello said local police were aware her address was a potential target, and the recent incident was jarring due to her history of receiving threats. She said the responding officer seemed to miss the significance of this information.

Minton told The Dallas Express that Plano police have several training programs to teach residents how to defend themselves. He said if they encounter a suspicious person, they should take pictures if possible and call 911.