Tesla Inc. has obtained a restraining order against a man who is part of a Tesla short-selling community for alleged stalking and dangerous behavior.

The legal filing for the restraining order Friday alleges that Randeep Hothi, who goes by the name of @skabooshka on Twitter, had been stalking Tesla’s factory and harassing its employees.

Tesla alleges that in February, Hothi was spotted by a security guard in the car park of their factory and, when asked to move along, struck the security guard with his vehicle, causing minor injuries. In a second incident April 16, Tesla alleges at Hothi, driving a Honda Accura, stalked a Tesla vehicle being tested in the Bay Area, taking pictures and at one stage swerving so close to the Model 3 that its side-collision safety feature engaged.

The Alameda County Superior Court granted the application, imposing a temporary restraining order that prohibits Hothi from going within 100 yards of Tesla’s factory, employees or any Tesla vehicle with factory plates until a further hearing on May 7. The order was made ahead of an investor event dubbed “Autonomy Day” Tesla has scheduled for Monday, and the timing of the order likely was not a coincidence.

According to Teslarati Sunday, some members of the community of which Hothi is a member have previously joked that it would be amusing if the Model 3 crashed and had also talked about braking in front of Tesla’s test vehicles, as well as intentionally swerving into the electric cars’ lane to ensure that the company’s demonstrations are authentic.

Others, though, are skeptical about the timing.

The LA Times wrote Sunday that “it’s not the first time Tesla and Musk may have gone to great lengths to stop what they perceive as threats to the company.” The report added that Musk had previously accused an employee of “engaging in extensive and damaging sabotage,” while “Tesla’s public relations department allegedly spread rumors that he was homicidal.”

Zero Hedge went further, pointing out strange anomalies in the application for the restraining order such as failing to follow through on action against Hothi over the car park incident where he allegedly struck an employee.

Musk’s only comment so far has been a claim of victimhood on Twitter, to which Hothi responded with a claim that Tesla is falling apart.

No one contributes to Tesla’s failure more than you @elonmusk. $SCTY was on the brink of bk, and you bailed it out using Tesla. $TSLA is already falling apart. You know it. You choked, and did the fake funding-secured tweet. This is why capitalists like you are reviled. Tic tock

— skabooshka (@skabooshka) April 21, 2019

Photo: Seungho Yang/ Wikimedia Commons