Investigators relied on cellphone and vehicle location data, property records, surveillance and interviews with people connected to several Stockton and Lodi addresses as they investigated allegations against Stockton City Council candidate Desiree Lynch, according to court records obtained by The Record.
The 21-page probable cause statement for the issuance of an arrest warrant, prepared by San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office investigator Ross Martin, details investigators’ efforts to determine where Lynch lived before and after she registered to vote and filed to run for Stockton City Council District 5.
Prosecutors initially charged Lynch with five felonies in a complaint filed on Aug. 18 in San Joaquin County Superior Court, including
three counts of perjury, one count of causing, procuring or allowing false voter registration and one count of filing a false declaration of candidacy.
Prosecutors added a sixth felony charge against Lynch in an amended complaint filed on Sept. 2, the day of her arraignment: possession of an assault weapon.
The probable cause statement does not establish that Lynch committed the alleged crimes. Rather, it documents investigators’ evidence and conclusions supporting the charges. Lynch is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
Anonymous tip prompts investigation
In the statement, Martin said he was assigned to investigate allegations of campaign and election fraud involving Lynch on June 30. That day, he met with San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office Detective Nick Miller, who asked him to adopt a public integrity investigation that had initially been referred to the sheriff’s office on May 4.
Miller provided Martin with investigative documents, video footage and digital photographs.
According to Miller, the sheriff’s office received an anonymous tip through Stockton Crime Stoppers regarding Lynch. The tipster alleged that Lynch filed to run for District 5 “using the bogus address” of 625 E. Oak St. #234 in Stockton. The tipster alleged that Lynch actually lived at a residence on Kirsten Court in Lodi.
The tipster also alleged that he was invited into the East Oak Street apartment by Lynch’s campaign consultant, Theodore Lehrer, on April 18. According to the tipster, Lehrer admitted that he lived in the apartment and that Lynch rented it only to qualify for the June 2 primary election ballot.
The tipster provided Stockton Crime Stoppers with video footage of the interior of the East Oak Street apartment. In one video, Lehrer appeared to be holding the apartment door open for the tipster, according to authorities.
The videos showed an empty apartment with no furniture. Campaign paperwork bearing Lynch’s name also appeared to be scattered throughout the apartment, according to the statement.
The tipster also described conducting surveillance of Lynch after a candidate forum held on April 23 at San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton. The tipster said he followed Lynch to the Kirsten Court residence and observed that she was driving a white Cadillac sport utility vehicle.
Voter records show address changes
Martin said he reviewed the materials provided by Miller, including Lynch’s voter registration and campaign filing records. According to the statement, sheriff’s office Lt. Joe Silva obtained the records from San Joaquin County Registrar of Voters Olivia Hale on May 11.
Martin noted that Lynch was registered to vote at the Kirsten Court residence from July 5, 2023, through Nov. 10, 2025. The residence is not located within any Stockton City Council district.
Lynch later re-registered to vote and listed 409 E. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. #3 in Stockton, which is in District 5, according to the records.
On Feb. 5, Lynch re-registered to vote and changed her address to 625 E. Oak St. #234 in Stockton, also in District 5. She subsequently listed the Oak Street address on city election documents, including nomination paperwork.
On March 2, Lynch submitted her nomination paperwork to the Stockton city clerk and signed it under penalty of perjury, again listing the Oak Street address. She also signed and submitted her declaration of candidacy that day with the same address.
Based on the documents Lynch submitted, Stockton City Clerk Katherine Roland certified her as a candidate for Stockton City Council District 5 on March 25, according to the statement.
Lynch advanced to the Nov. 3 general election after the June 2 primary. Following her Aug. 19 arrest, San Joaquin County Superior Court Judge Robert Waters rejected an emergency petition seeking to remove her from the ballot. Lynch’s name will appear alongside incumbent District 5 Councilmember Brando Villapudua’s on the ballot.
Separately, Martin said he reviewed database records provided by Miller, including records from the California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System and the California Department of Motor Vehicles. Those records showed that Lynch’s driver’s license listed the Kirsten Court residence as her address.
The records also showed that a 2024 Cadillac and a 2020 BMW sport utility vehicle were registered to Lynch at the Kirsten Court residence, according to the statement. The Cadillac matched the vehicle information provided by the tipster.
Martin said he went to the Kirsten Court residence on June 30 and did not see any vehicles in the driveway. He observed a realtor lockbox on the front door and approached the residence. Looking through a window, Martin said he observed that the house appeared to be vacant.
Residency requirements come under scrutiny
Martin said he subsequently reviewed provisions of the California Elections Code, Government Code and Stockton City Charter related to the allegations.
Under California Government Code Section 34882, a person is not eligible to serve on a municipal legislative body unless they are otherwise qualified, reside in the district, have resided in the geographical area making up the district from which they are elected and were a registered voter of the city when nomination papers were issued.
Stockton City Charter Section 601(f) similarly requires each councilmember to reside in and be a qualified elector of the district from which they are nominated and elected or appointed for at least 30 days before filing nomination papers or being appointed.
Martin also cited California Elections Code Section 349, which defines a person's residence for voting purposes as their domicile. The statute defines domicile as the place where a person's habitation is fixed, where they intend to remain and to which they intend to return when absent. A person may have multiple residences but only one domicile at a time.
Records show post-primary address changes
Martin said he ran another set of California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System and California Department of Motor Vehicles database checks on Lynch on July 15.
According to DMV records, Lynch updated the address on her driver’s license to 10940 Trinity Parkway, Suite C #223 in Stockton on June 12. Martin said he researched the address and determined it was a UPS Store that rents mailboxes.
Lynch also updated her mailing address to 625 E. Oak St. #234 in Stockton on June 16, according to the statement.
The records also showed changes to the addresses associated with Lynch’s vehicles. The 2024 Cadillac was updated to the Oak Street address, while the 2020 BMW continued to list the Kirsten Court residence in Lodi. The 2002 Toyota was registered to an address on Sonora Avenue in Lodi.
Campaign consultant says Lynch did not live at Oak Street
During the week of July 20, Martin said he learned that Lynch’s campaign consultant, Lehrer, had been stabbed in what police described as a random act of violence in downtown Stockton on July 16.
Lynch publicly identified Lehrer as her campaign consultant after the stabbing. Martin then obtained the police report, which listed Lehrer’s address as the Oak Street apartment.
Martin said he contacted Lehrer by phone on July 29 using the number listed in the police report. Martin conducted an audio-recorded interview with Lehrer and summarized the conversation in his statement.
Lehrer told Martin that Lynch’s residency for Stockton City Council District 5 was illegal and that she had recently purchased a home in Stockton’s Westlake area as her primary residence.
Lehrer also identified 625 E. Oak St. #234 in Stockton as the address Lynch was using for District 5. Lehrer told Martin that he actually lived at the apartment and considered it his primary residence. He said the apartment was in Lynch’s name and that she began renting it in late January.
Lehrer said Lynch had visited the apartment several times but, to his knowledge, had never stayed overnight. He said the one-bedroom apartment was initially intended for Lynch to use the bedroom while he used the living room. Lehrer said Lynch did not move a bed into the apartment until July.
When Martin asked whether Lynch slept at the apartment before the bed was moved in, Lehrer responded, “Again, I don’t think she slept anywhere [in the apartment]. I would say she did not sleep there.”
Martin also asked Lehrer whether he considered 625 E. Oak St. #234 to be Lynch’s residence. Lehrer responded, “I would say it is not her residence.” He said Lynch had a legal claim to the apartment and had keys to it.
Lehrer told Martin that Lynch had brought her partner to the apartment approximately three times but that they never stayed overnight. He said Lynch and her partner lived together in Lodi and had recently purchased a home in Stockton’s Westlake area.
Shorecliff home enters investigation
On July 30, San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office investigator Raquel Betti assisted Martin with additional database searches on Lynch. Betti and investigative assistant Caryn Barnett located real estate records and San Joaquin County Assessor-Recorder’s Office records involving Lynch.
The records showed that Lynch and her partner purchased a home in Stockton’s Westlake area, within District 1, for $725,000. The property is on Shorecliff Street. A preliminary change of ownership report filed with the assessor-recorder’s office indicated that Lynch and her partner intended the property to be their principal residence as of May 26. Lynch signed the document.
A notarized deed of trust for the Shorecliff Street property, signed by Lynch and her partner on May 25, listed their current residence as a home on Kirsten Court in Lodi.
Later that day, Martin conducted surveillance at the Shorecliff Street property and observed Lynch’s black BMW parked outside. About 20 minutes later, her partner arrived in a Toyota SUV and entered the residence.
On July 31, San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office investigator Matt Garlick conducted surveillance at both the Oak Street apartment and Shorecliff Street. Garlick had reviewed the anonymous tipster’s video footage and told Martin that apartment #234 was the same apartment shown in the video.
Garlick reported seeing no sign of Lynch at the apartment and no Cadillac outside.
Garlick conducted surveillance again on Aug. 1. He reported seeing no vehicle of Lynch’s at Oak Street that morning and later saw Lynch’s Cadillac at the Shorecliff Street residence. Garlick also said he saw Lynch inside the residence through a window.
Vehicle location data adds to evidence
Investigators obtained historical location data for Lynch’s Cadillac through a search warrant authorized by San Joaquin County Superior Court Judge Seth Hoyt Jr. on Aug. 6.
AT&T provided the data to investigators on Aug. 7. The records, certified by an AT&T custodian and forensically analyzed by San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office Crime Analyst Lori Silva, contained more than 45,000 cellular-tower hits between Nov. 10, 2025, and Aug. 6.
The data showed a consistent pattern, investigators said: The Cadillac rarely generated nighttime hits near Lynch’s reported Stockton addresses but consistently generated hits near residences in Lodi and, later, Stockton.
Between Nov. 10, 2025, and Feb. 5, there were no apparent hits near Lynch’s first reported District 5 address, 409 E. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. #3, between midnight and 6 a.m., while the vehicle consistently generated hits near the Kirsten Court residence in Lodi.
From Feb. 5 through May 31, the Cadillac generated five apparent nighttime hits near the Oak Street apartment while continuing to generate consistent hits near Kirsten Court. After June 1, investigators said there were only one or two apparent nighttime hits near Oak Street, compared with consistent hits near Lynch’s Shorecliff Street home.
Cellphone data corroborates vehicle records
Investigators also obtained location data from Lynch’s cellphone that they said corroborated the findings from the Cadillac’s telematic records.
On Aug. 3, Martin authored a search warrant for location data associated with two of Lynch’s cellphone numbers. Hoyt authorized the warrant.
One number was inactive, while the other generated more than 22,000 cellular-tower contacts between Nov. 10, 2025, and Aug. 3. Crime analyst Silva analyzed the records and developed location data from those contacts.
Crime analyst Silva said the cellphone data corroborated the telematic data from Lynch’s Cadillac. Investigators concluded the combined data showed that 409 E. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. #3 and 625 E. Oak St. #234 were not, and never had been, Lynch’s domiciles, while the Kirsten Court residence in Lodi was her domicile from Nov. 10, 2025, into June.
Lynch tells police Oak Street was her domicile
Investigators said the vehicle location data raised questions about Lynch’s account of when she began living at the Oak Street apartment.
On Aug. 4, Stockton police Detective Louis Porta interviewed Lynch by telephone about a crime report she had filed. When Porta asked how long she had lived at the apartment, Lynch said since February. Asked how many nights a week she slept there, Lynch said she had not kept track because she had a boyfriend, a job and traveled frequently.
“It was my, it’s my domicile, that’s my home,” Lynch told Porta, according to Martin’s review of the report.
Neighbors and landlords provide additional accounts
Investigators also interviewed people connected to Lynch’s reported Stockton and Lodi addresses.
At the Oak Street apartment, neighbor Gabriel Fernandez told Detective Porta that he understood Lehrer to be the resident of apartment #234. Fernandez said he had seen Lynch at the apartment only once and believed Lehrer lived there alone.
Landlord Melissa Lopez told Porta that Lynch signed the lease for apartment #234 on Feb. 7, according to the statement.
On Aug. 13, another neighbor, Anthony Dawson, told Garlick that Lehrer moved out around the end of July and Lynch moved in. Dawson said he had seen Lynch and Lehrer together at the apartment two or three times. During the interview, Garlick saw Lynch leave the apartment and sit in her Cadillac, while her BMW was also parked at the complex.
Investigators also interviewed people connected to Lynch’s earlier District 5 address on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
The property owner, Joel Mandujano, said he had never had a tenant named Lynch and that the current tenant, Leonard Armento, had lived in apartment #3 for 25 years. Armento told investigators he did not know Lynch and did not recognize her photograph.
Armento’s caregiver, Katherine Vasquez, said Lynch had visited the apartment a couple of times in October 2025 and February. Vasquez also said Lynch asked last October to use the address for mail because she did not have a forwarding address. Vasquez said Lynch received “a letter or two” but never paid rent. Although Lynch stayed overnight a couple of times, Vasquez said she did not live there.
Investigators canvassed the neighborhood surrounding Kirsten Court in Lodi. Two residents, Ailey Chairez and Anthony Miles, told Garlick that Lynch had lived there and drove a white Cadillac. Chairez said Lynch moved out around June, while Miles estimated July, according to the statement.
On Aug. 14, property manager Geri Taylor told Garlick that Lynch rented the property from May 18, 2023, through June 21. Taylor provided Lynch’s rental records, including a May 22 notice of intention to vacate in which Lynch listed her reason for leaving as “Bought a house.”
The notice identified Kirsten Court as Lynch’s address and did not mention the Oak Street apartment.
Investigators’ summary ties evidence to alleged offenses
In his final summary, Martin concluded that Lynch’s domicile was Kirsten Court until May 26, when it shifted to the Shorecliff Street home she purchased with her partner.
Martin concluded that 409 E. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. #3 was never Lynch’s domicile or residence. He said the evidence included witness interviews and cellphone and vehicle location data.
He concluded that 625 E. Oak St. #234 was a residence Lynch had access to but was not her domicile, citing the lease, witness interviews, surveillance and location data.
Martin concluded there was probable cause to believe Lynch committed the alleged voter registration and perjury offenses when she registered to vote at the Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard address on Nov. 10, 2025, and later registered at the Oak Street address and listed that address on her nomination papers.
Judge Chrishna Martinez ordered Lynch to appear in person at 8:30 a.m. on Oct. 8 for further arraignment in Dept. 8C of the San Joaquin County Superior Court.
Record reporter Hannah Workman covers news in Stockton and San Joaquin County. She can be reached at hworkman@recordnet.com or on Twitter @byhannahworkman. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow.
This article originally appeared on The Record: Court records detail evidence behind allegations against Desiree Lynch
