U.S. Files Complaint in Bono Stalking Case

Federal prosecutors sought a restraining order Monday against a man accused of stalking Rep. Mary Bono (R-Palm Springs) and her staff.

Steven Howard Sanberg, 44, “is mentally unstable, obsessed with Congresswoman Bono and members of her staff, and a danger to them and to others,” government lawyers alleged in a civil complaint filed before U.S. District Judge Richard A. Paez.

Sanberg could not be reached for comment.

The complaint said he barged into the congresswoman’s Palm Springs office on July 21 to hold his own news conference and that he became abusive when asked to leave. About a week later, the complaint said, he harassed a student intern who worked there, following her in his car and calling her at all hours of the night.

Sanberg has a record of criminal complaints for stalking, harassment, assault, battery and terrorist threats, according to the government.

Bono, who succeeded her late husband, Sonny Bono, after his death in a skiing accident, obtained a restraining order against Sanberg in state court earlier this month after receiving a fax from him that read, in part: “No conditions. Lunch at your home Please! or I’ll [expletive] you all.”