Supervisor candidate denies allegations of bullying veteran neighbor with PTSD

Randy Ray, a Newton resident running for county supervisor this year, is facing allegations of intentionally inflicting emotional distress against his neighbor Paul Padilla, a veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder. In response, Ray filed counterclaims alleging similar actions against Padilla. Both deny the claims.

According to the petition filed on Aug. 20 by Padilla’s attorney, Michael Marquess of Marquess Law Office, he alleged Ray’s harassment dates back to two years ago. Both men live near the 1000 block of East 10th Street North in Newton. Ray owns a home across the street and a large garage next door to Padilla’s home.

In the suit, Padilla, 59, alleged Ray, 67, has blared loud music, air horns and sounds of animals in distress towards his home, positioned bright lights to shine directly into his home at night, operated heavy machinery to cause loud noise and vibrations and parked vehicles next to Padilla’s driveway to obscure his view.

The civil suit also alleges Ray of screaming homophobic slurs at Padilla, as well as intimidating his friends and guests and exploding firecrackers to frighten his medically certified support dog. Padilla’s suit also references a past incident in which Ray pled guilty of assault in Jasper County last year.

In Ray’s countersuit, he admitted the police were summoned and charged him with assault. Ray pled guilty to the charge on June 29, 2023. However, he disputes the narrative of this incident in Padilla’s petition. Padilla had alleged that Ray entered Padilla’s yard and screamed at him about his dog.

Padilla’s petition alleged that Ray stomped on Padilla’s foot with “significant force,” preventing him from retreating to the house. The petition also said charges were amended to include harassment. However, filings on Iowa Courts Online do not show any indication of this.

Regardless, Padilla’s civil suit claims this incident caused him harm and compensable injury.

As a result of these alleged actions, Padilla claims it has triggered his PTSD and caused him to scream back at Ray on some occasions and even go to the hospital to treat a panic attack. He also said Ray’s behavior has caused a “significant increase” in his disability.

Specifically, he cited his disability rating from the Department of Veterans Affairs on July 14, 2023, increasing to 70 percent from 30 percent. Padilla is seeking compensatory damages, punitive damages and the costs of this action, and he has demanded a trial by jury.

Padilla claimed Ray’s behaviors have been witnessed by multiple persons and documented on multiple occasions by photographs, videos and audio recordings. Michael Marquess, Padilla’s attorney, told Newton News the court is going to set a trial date for the case, but he is unsure when that trial date might be.

“These are simply allegations at this point and nothing has been proven at this point,” Marquess said. “…In (our) petition, I’ve laid out the specific allegations and specific behavior towards Mr. Padilla. I think that most clearly states what we say happened. And we look forward to our day in court to prove it.”

RAY DENIES ALLEGATIONS & SUGGESTS PADILLA IS THE AGGRESSOR

According to Ray’s response filed Sept. 9 by his attorney, Kenneth and James Munro of the Munro Law Office, the claims made by Padilla are untrue and abuse the legal process. Ray also alleged Padilla of intentionally inflicting emotional distress against him.

Ray’s attorneys have requested Padilla’s petition be dismissed in its entirety, saying the claims are barred by the applicable statute of limitations and that he incurred no damages. Ray also said Padilla is the “sole party” engaging in the actions alleged in his petition.

When Padilla moved in across the street in 2019, Ray claimed he would often include his neighbor in activities and holidays until he “began acting erratically.” Ray alleged Padilla was charged with third-degree harassment in March 2023 for yelling profanities from has yard. This case has not yet concluded.

Of note, the date included in Ray’s response for this incident may be a typo. Iowa Courts Online shows the harassment case was actually filed in March 2024. Either way, Ray has been subpoenaed to testify in the trial against Padilla, which has been delayed for nearly six months.

Ray’s attorneys go on to claim Padilla’s lawsuit has not been filed in good faith and is intended to serve as another avenue to harass their client.

Ray said Padilla yelled profanities about his wife and other close family members, pointed bright lights through his windows and abused the legal system to file “baseless” lawsuits. Ray also claimed Padilla admitted to third party witnesses that he is the perpetrator of the acts for which he is suing him.

Currently, Ray is running as an independent candidate for county supervisor. He, again, denies the claims made by Padilla. Ray told Newton News that he also has incriminating evidence against Ray for the separate third-degree harassment case. He called the civil case a “bunch of bullarkey (sic).”

Ray said, “He’s a sick person. Very sick.”