Before woman accused her ex of robbery, he had restraining order against her

Months before Bianca Zena Powell accused her former boyfriend of robbing her with a gun, he had filed a domestic violence restraining order claiming she harassed him "all day, every day."

Willie Hubert Richardson, 23, of Raleigh, wrote in the restraining order that his ex-girlfriend was stalking him, threatening to cut him with a knife and had used the weapon to slash the seats of his car.

"She continues to file false police reports," he wrote in the restraining order filed on Oct. 4 with the Wake County Clerk of Courts Office. "Damage property, harassment, calls, trespass continuously. [She] stopped for awhile and then started back."

The same day that Richardson obtained the restraining order, police charged Powell, 22, of Raleigh, with one misdemeanor count of communicating threats, according to an arrest warrant filed at with the county clerk's office. Police say she called Richardson and threatened to cut him.

Last April, officers charged Powell with injury to personal property and misdemeanor larceny. She used a pocketknife to cut up the seats in Richardson's 2007 Ford Taurus parked at his grandmother's house, according to the protective order.

But in a turn of events last month, police charged Richardson with robbery with a dangerous weapon, following Powell's claims that he had robbed her at gunpoint in Garner. Officers then determined that Powell had not been robbed at all shortly after she went on Facebook and posted – to Richardson’s new girlfriend – about how she had lied about the robbery.

Charges were dropped against Richardson, and Powell is facing more charges – one count each of obstruction of justice and making a false report to police, according to records filed with the City County Bureau of Identification.

Police took Powell into custody on Feb. 24 at the Wake County jail. She was released the same day after posting a $7,500 bond, a jail spokesman said.

Richardson, in the restraining order application, said he had known Powell "forever" and that she had been known to carry a pocketknife.

Richardson asked the court to prohibit Powell from having any contact with him and to order her to attend an abuser program.

Powell is scheduled to be in court for the larceny, property damage and false report charges on March 27, court records show.

Thomasi McDonald: 919-829 4533, @thomcdonald

This story was originally published March 13, 2018 at 4:36 PM with the headline "Before woman accused her ex of robbery, he had restraining order against her."