A city employee used confidential databases to investigate her ex-boyfriend and posed as a police officer to intimidate his new girlfriend, according to a lawsuit notice recently filed with the city.

The notice, filed by an attorney on behalf of Carina Tarrillo, says Tarrillo's trouble with city 911 center employee Keren Ceballos began with a breakup.

After Ceballos' boyfriend ended their relationship, she became "angry and jealous" and used confidential government databases to investigate the man, the legal notice says. Those searches led Ceballos to discover Tarrillo had moved in with him, according to the document.

The searches also led Ceballos to learn that Tarrillo worked at a chiropractic clinic, the legal notice states. Ceballos went to the clinic to inquire about treatment and was led by Tarrillo to an exam room, it says. Once there, Ceballos said she works for Portland police and told Tarrillo that her name "popped up" in the course of a background check, according to the legal notice.

The document states that Tarrillo believed she was the target of an investigation, became frightened and ran from the exam room.

The legal notice says Tarrillo believes Ceballos "misused public and confidential resources to a do a background check unrelated to Ms. Ceballos's employment" with the 911 center. It states Ceballos "held Ms. Tarrillo in a room against her will and under pretenses that she was under investigation and under arrest."

The notice claims the city and its 911 center are in part responsible for Ceballos' alleged conduct because "it allowed her unfettered access to confidential databases."

Tarrillo's attorney was not immediately available for comment Thursday. Ceballos has not been charged with any crime.

Bob Cozzie, director of the 911 agency, said the city risk management office evaluates legal claims, adding, "I am not at liberty to discuss the case." Cozzie did not respond to an emailed question about agency policies on employee access to databases. A city Bureau of Human Resources employee said Ceballos remains a full-time employee at the 911 center.

– Gordon R. Friedman

Have a tip about Portland City Hall? Contact Gordon: GFriedman@Oregonian.com.