Judge orders Pescavore founder Clarice Owens held in jail until March stalking trial

The Santa Cruz woman behind a seafood business will stay behind bars at the county jail until she goes to trial in mid-March on charges of harassing dozens of people online, a Santa Cruz County Superior Court ruled Wednesday at an arraignment hearing. 

Pescavore founder Clarice Owens is charged with felony stalking and 32 misdemeanors for violating restraining orders. Court records describe a pattern of doxing and making violent threats over at least two years via social media, email and text messages. Six entities, including Owens’ neighbor, a former investor and her homeowners’ association, successfully filed for restraining orders, protecting at least 90 people in Santa Cruz County and beyond. 

On Wednesday morning, Owens sat in a red prison jumpsuit in a courtroom, while her husband, Matthew Owens, and several family members sat in the stands. Darcey Arena, who lives directly above the Owens family and has an active restraining order against Clarice, was also present. None had an opportunity to speak. 

Public defender Kristyn Skelly, who is leading Owens’ legal team, argued that Owens, who has been incarcerated since Dec. 19, should be allowed to wait for her trial outside of jail. 

Owens can’t return to her home due to the proximity to a witness in the case, said Skelly, but her family secured another residence outside of the city. Skelly argued that the allegations that Owens threatened protected parties are from “months and months ago,” and pointed out that her client has attended every court date. Skelly said she was confident Owens would not violate any of the six active restraining orders against her. 

“Being confined away from her son over the holidays was very impactful,” said Skelly, referring to Owens’ 7-year-old child. She pointed out that Owens has no prior convictions and needed to attend to her business, Pescavore. (According to Lookout’s reporting, the business has been inactive for over a year.)

Assistant district attorney Peter Esho opposed Owens’ release. He argued that proximity to a witness “is just one issue,” and that her release would be “inappropriate” given that Owens has disregarded court orders by contacting protected parties when she had previously been released on bail and her own recognizance after three separate arrests in the last year. 

Judge Stephen Siegel denied the request to relocate Owens. She will remain in custody until her trial date on March 16. A pre-trial hearing is scheduled for March 4. 

“I’m happy that the judge kept her in custody,” said Arena. Although she technically lives above the Owens family in a condo in Santa Cruz’s Westside neighborhood, she said she’s been staying at friends’ homes and at her office in Campbell because of a strained relationship with Matthew Owens. “I don’t feel safe going home,” she said.

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