One woman's Tesla was remotely controlled by an abusive ex-partner

Almost a twelvemonth ago, Stacey* heard her Tesla car siren sound connected 3 occasions successful the mediate of the night.

By that point, the Sydney female had suffered 4 years of home maltreatment by her erstwhile partner and disgraced businessman, Enrico Pucci. When the siren sounded, she was “too scared” to spell extracurricular because she thought he whitethorn beryllium damaging her vehicle, according to constabulary documents tendered successful court.

The adjacent morning, the car appeared undamaged, but Stacey noticed its physics dashboard had been reset and a “parental control” floor plan had been added.

Three days later, Pucci, now 50, followed her successful a car and started to outcry astatine her astir a man she was dating.

“You thought you’d get distant pinch this. I americium successful your car. I americium successful your maps,” he shouted astatine her, according to the constabulary records.

Over the coming days, Stacey recovered that the parental power profile, to which she had nary access, could almost wholly power the car, including its speed, ambiance control, fastener and curfew hours, determining erstwhile the car could beryllium driven.

Between 6 and 12 November 2025, Pucci remotely alternated the car’s somesthesia mounting betwixt highly acold and highly hot.

“The unfortunate has not been capable to thrust definite speeds and connected astir caller occasions passim this period, [the accused] has turned connected ‘Valet Mode’ which instantly reduces the velocity to 40km per hr causing important information issues for the unfortunate connected the road”, the constabulary documents stated.

“The unfortunate has not had immoderate power of her conveyance since she noticed the parental power floor plan added connected the 1st November 2025.

“The accused has been the only 1 pinch entree to the vehicle’s controls utilising the Tesla app. This has caused the unfortunate important stress, intelligence harm and fears for her beingness information erstwhile operating her ain vehicle.”

Last Wednesday, Pucci was convicted of 30 home unit related charges against Stacey, including utilizing the Tesla car app to harass her.

Judge Peter Feather sentenced him to 2 years and 3 months earlier Parramatta section tribunal successful occidental Sydney, pinch a non-parole play of 15 months, aft he pleaded blameworthy to the charges the week earlier a proceeding scheduled successful August.

During his sentencing remarks, Feather said Pucci had engaged successful “abusive behaviour” towards his erstwhile partner complete the people of 4 years. This included “multiple methods to dominate” the woman, including utilizing the Tesla app to power her car, and forging fraudulent employment opportunities to “create dependency” while “also forcing her to walk up different opportunities”.

“When viewed cumulatively, [it] amounts to behaviour that’s some coercive and controlling successful nature, reflecting a shape of behaviour designed to entrench powerfulness and compliance,” Feather said.

‘Everything went quiet’

The constabulary documents elaborate years of abuse. In an incident which led to a condemnation of communal assault, Stacey successful March 2020 told Pucci she wished to abstracted while they were successful the car pinch the victim’s two-year-old son.

“The accused threatened that would beryllium the past clip the unfortunate sees her boy if she ended the relationship,” the documents said. “The accused forcibly took her telephone and typed a connection to the victim’s ex hubby stating that she could not attraction for her boy and wished to springiness him up.”

“The accused forcibly removed the unfortunate from her car and dragged her to a adjacent pillar, pinned her against it and said ‘say goodbye to your son’. The accused drove disconnected pinch the victim’s child, leaving the unfortunate without a telephone aliases a car.”

According to the documents, Pucci returned a fewer minutes later, past grabbed Stacey’s limb and said, “I dream you comprehend what will hap to you if you break up again”.

Separately, successful 2021, aft they were married, Pucci strangled Stacey to the constituent she recalled proceeding gurgling noises and “fighting” for her life, the documents stated.

“Everything went quiet, and the unfortunate blacked out,” the documents read.

“The unfortunate believed she was going to die.”

“The unfortunate agreed, solely for the intent of assistance pinch the conveyance technology,” the documents said.

In November 2025, a period aft the narration had ended, Pucci utilized Stacey’s Tesla car app to harass her, which fell nether a complaint of utilizing a carriage work to stalk aliases harass.

This included 7 attempts by Pucci to disconnect her car from its charging larboard via the Tesla app.

History of abuse

Pucci is appealing against his condemnation for the 30 offences and is scheduled to look tribunal again successful precocious October.

The offences see 8 counts of stalking aliases intimidation pinch the volition to origin fearfulness aliases beingness harm, six counts of communal assault, 2 counts of choking a personification without consent, 1 count of utilizing a carriage work to frighten to termination and 1 count of utilizing a carriage work to menace, harass aliases offend.

In 2017, the national tribunal recovered that a Sydney cleaning patient owned by Pucci had treated immoderate susceptible overseas workers arsenic “slaves” aft refusing to salary them for months and leaving them to spell without furniture, nutrient and captious aesculapian treatment.

The fair activity ombudsman secured a punishment of astir $450,000 successful the national tribunal against Grouped Property Services (GPS) Pty Ltd. Pucci, the company’s existent proprietor and sole director, was fined $3,000 for firing a female erstwhile she asked why she had not been paid.

His brother, Rosario Pucci, the erstwhile owner-operator of the company, was described by the national tribunal arsenic being “intimately involved” successful the exploitation and fined a further $74,300.

In 2022, ASIC disqualified Enrico Pucci from managing corporations for the maximum play of 5 years owed to his “involvement successful the nonaccomplishment of 3 companies”, which owed almost $10m to creditors.

*Name has been changed for privateness reasons.