Sergius Apostolos Orloff is a seriously injured worker and is confined to a wheelchair. As a result of a work-related spinal cord injury, Orloff suffers from chronic back pain, anxiety disorder, and personality disorder. He was awarded a permanent disability rating of 100 percent on his worker’s compensation claim,

He also seemed to have an “attitude” when dealing with others, and has a history of threatening physical harm to those involved in his case.

In this current (fourth) criminal case he was prosecuted (again!) and convicted for threatening Police Officer David Kelley who made contact with him while investigating a citizens complaint that he had made “threats of bodily harm or death.” The underlying investigation was triggered by his threats to a CVS pharmacy employee. He appealed this conviction. The Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court this month in the published case of People v Sergius Apostolos Orloff.

But – this was not Orloff’s first criminal case for making threats to those involved in his workers compensation claim. in 2003, he suffered a misdemeanor conviction for violating PC section 653m, subdivision (c), after he made annoying or threatening phone calls to his neighbors. In 2008, he was again convicted of the same offense after he placed several increasingly hostile phone calls and sent fax transmissions to representatives of Health Quest Home Care due to his dissatisfaction with their service. He was again placed on probation and ordered to serve 180 days in jail. (The jail sentence was apparently stayed.)

He was on probation for less than one year when he committed the third offenses which involved his threats to Workers’ Compensation Judges involved in his case and was an unpublished Court of Appeal decision reported in the Workers’ Compensation literature as People v. Orloff (2nd–B211573), 74 Cal. Comp. Cases 1330

Facts of his prior misconduct in the third case, unrelated to the current prosecution, were allowed into evidence and heard by the jury in his fourth case. In the third criminal case Orloff made the threats between 2006 and 2008 while litigating his workers’ compensation claim at the Oxnard WCAB. He telephoned Judge Carrero’s secretary, Belinda Doleman, and left a message “that he was going to get the fxxxxxx judge, that [the judge] better have a policeman available.” Later, Orloff left a message for Judge Carrero that “if he didn’t get what he wanted, he was going to jump out of his [wheel]chair and confront Judge Carrero, . . . [and] make Judge Carrero feel what it was like to be him and have a cervical discectomy . . . .” Appellant also said “something to [the] effect” that he was going “to break Judge Carrero’s legs.” A few days later, appellant left a message that Judge Carrero, Doleman, and David Brotman, another judge, “were going to meet members of the Russian Mafia” who “were going to make sure [they] did what [appellant] wanted.” Appellant said “that he wasn’t going to call anymore because [the judges and the secretary] weren’t going to hear from him and that no one was going to hear from [them] either.”

In July of 2008, Orloff pleaded guilty in the third criminal case to one count of making a criminal threat (PC 422), and one count of making annoying telephone calls (PC 653m, subd. (a)).

This fourth prosecution pertained to a 2014 complaint by Dennis Masino worked as a store manager for CVS Pharmacy. His store filled Orloff’s prescriptions for pain medication. After several episodes of disruptive behavior, Masino told Orloff that he was no longer welcome at the store and that his prescription would be transferred “to any pharmacist that he wants.” But Orloff insisted that Masino had “to give him his medications.” Later Masino received two telephone calls from Orloff. In the first call, Orloff said to “expect something when you least expect it.” About 90 minutes later, Masino received the second call. Masino said, “This is Dennis. How may I help you?” Orloff replied, “You’re dead,” and hung up. Masino understood the threat to mean that his “life [was] at risk.” Masino knew that Orloff was in a wheelchair. But he considered appellant’s death threat credible because “[a]nybody could carry a gun.”

Officer David Kelley had prior police contacts with appellant and was aware of his disability. He was investigating a citizen’s complaint that Orloff had made “threats of bodily harm or death.” He telephonically spoke with Orloff. During that conversation, Orloff uttered racial epithets while responding to Kelly’s comments, which concluded with a threat “Hey, you’re a fxxxxx’ dead nxxxxx if you keep this sxxx up.”

Orloff appeals from the judgment entered after a jury had convicted him in this fourth case of making a criminal threat arising out of the 2014 incidents (Pen. Code, § 422) and attempting, by means of a threat, to deter an executive officer from performing his duties. (§ 69.) The Court of Appeal sustained the fourth conviction in the case of People v Orloff.

The Court of Appeal explained its decision by saying a “person confined to a wheelchair is capable of making a criminal threat. Here the threats were directed to a peace officer and a pharmacy manager. Similar prior threats were directed to workers’ compensation judges. We have compassion for a person confined to a wheelchair. However, pain and suffering does not give license to threaten people.”

“The law does not countenance threats of bodily harm against citizens, peace officers, or judges. This is true whether the threats are clear or veiled. Threats against peace officers or judges are directed not only to the individual but also to the public office that the individual occupies. Such threats strike at the heart of government and will not be tolerated. The judgment is affirmed.”

This case now sets a precedent for proper conduct of an injured worker while working with claims, physicians, and others who are involved in administering the claim.