Modern connected vehicles are built for convenience, but they can quickly turn into a terrifying instrument of control. A woman in Australia recently discovered her abusive ex-partner was remotely manipulating her Tesla's speed, temperature, and locks using a smartphone app. The full, unsettling scale of the digital harassment came to light when he confronted her directly, taunting, 'I am in your car. I am in your maps.'
Late one night roughly a year ago, Stacey (a pseudonym used to protect her privacy) woke up three separate times to her Tesla's alarm blaring in the dark. The Sydney resident had spent the previous four years enduring domestic abuse from her ex-partner, Sydney businessman Enrico Pucci. According to police records filed in court, the fear that he was outside damaging her vehicle left her 'too scared' to step out and check.
When daylight broke, the vehicle appeared completely fine, but Stacey discovered that the electronic dashboard had been reset, and a 'parental control' profile was now active. Only three days passed before 50-year-old Pucci trailed her in another vehicle, shouting at her about a man she was seeing. Police documentation reveals he yelled, 'You thought you'd get away with this. I am in your car. I am in your maps.'
Tesla App Gave Her Ex Control of the Car
Stacey soon realised the newly added settings locked her out completely while giving Pucci almost complete control over her Tesla, allowing someone to manipulate its climate, locks, top speed and even set driving curfews.
Pucci used these controls between 6 and 12 November 2025, repeatedly forcing the cabin air to swing between extremely cold and extremely hot temperatures from afar.
According to police records: 'The victim has not been able to drive certain speeds and on most recent occasions throughout this period, [the accused] has turned on "Valet Mode", which immediately reduces the speed to 40km per hour causing significant safety issues for the victim on the road'.
The court filings further noted: 'The victim has not had any control of her vehicle since she noticed the parental control profile added on the 1st November 2025.'
'The accused has been the only one with access to the vehicle's controls utilising the Tesla app. This has caused the victim significant stress, mental harm and fears for her physical safety when operating her own vehicle', the police documents stated.
Court Documents Detail Four Years of Abuse
On 9 September, a local court in western Sydney convicted Pucci on 30 domestic violence offences targeting Stacey, which included his misuse of the Tesla application to stalk and harass her.
Presiding at Parramatta Local Court, Judge Peter Feather handed down a sentence of two years and three months — setting a 15-month non-parole limit — after Pucci pleaded guilty a week before a hearing scheduled for August.
Throughout the sentencing, Feather detailed how Pucci had subjected his former partner to a four-year campaign of 'abusive behaviour'. To maintain dominance, he manipulated her vehicle via the phone application and even fabricated job offers to 'create dependency' and force 'her to pass up other opportunities'.
Feather emphasised that 'when viewed cumulatively, [it] amounts to conduct that's both coercive and controlling in nature, reflecting a pattern of behaviour designed to entrench power and compliance.'
Abuse Escalated After Stacey Tried to Leave
Court records outlined a multi-year history of intimidation. During a March 2020 car ride alongside Stacey's toddler, she informed Pucci of her intention to end things, an event that later resulted in a common assault conviction.
According to the files, 'The accused threatened that would be the last time the victim sees her son if she ended the relationship.' He then snatched her device, drafted a false text to her former husband claiming she wanted to surrender custody, and physically hauled her out of the vehicle.
After pinning her against a nearby pillar and telling her to 'say goodbye to your son', he sped away with the child, stranding her without transport or communication.
Within minutes, Pucci came back, seized her arm and warned, 'I hope you comprehend what will happen to you if you break up again.'
The Tesla Became Another Tool of Control
The escalation continued after their marriage in 2021, when Pucci choked Stacey until she let out choking sounds and struggled desperately to survive.
Court paperwork noted, 'Everything went quiet, and the victim blacked out,' with 'The victim believed she was going to die.'
During their relationship, Stacey purchased a Tesla. Struggling with the vehicle's digital systems, she accepted Pucci's offer to help under the condition that the car be registered under his name so 'he could take control of the Tesla app to "assist her",' filings explained. 'The victim agreed, solely for the purpose of assistance with the vehicle technology.'
Remote Access Was Used After Their Separation
By November 2025, just one month following their final separation, Pucci used the software to harass her, forming the basis of a charge for using a telecommunications service to stalk and harass.
This campaign featured seven separate remote attempts to unplug her vehicle from its charging station using the mobile application.
Pucci Appeals His Sentence for 30 Domestic Violence Offences
Pucci is currently appealing his sentence for the 30 offences and is set to return to court in late October. The offences include eight counts of stalking or intimidation with the intention to cause fear or physical harm, six counts of common assault, two counts of choking a person without consent, one count of using a carriage service to threaten to kill and one count of using a carriage service to menace, harass or offend.
In 2017, the Federal Court ordered penalties totalling $447,300 (£333,712.78) in a case involving Pucci's former cleaning company, Grouped Property Services Pty Ltd, after the company was found to have exploited vulnerable workers. Grouped Property Services was penalised $370,000 (£276,238.38) and ordered to back-pay $223,244 (£166,718.18) to 49 employees.
Pucci was fined $3,000 (£2,239.50), while his brother and the company's former owner-operator, Rosario Pucci, was penalised a further $74,300 (£55,503.85).
In 2022, ASIC disqualified Pucci from managing corporations for five years after his involvement in the failure of three companies. The companies owed a combined $9.71 million (£7.25 million) to creditors.
