While the saga of San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus plods on and she still refuses to leave office before they drag her out, we get a few more details about this most bizarre ordeal.

Maybe there's just something baked into working at the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office that breeds bad behavior and odd scandals. Cal Matters delves into the case of Sheriff Christina Corpus today, and reminds us that Corpus's predecessor in the job, Sheriff Carlos Bolanos, was no angel either. When he was under-sheriff, Bolanos and former Sheriff Greg Munks were caught up in a police raid of a brothel near Las Vegas.

And then, more strangely, in 2022, then-Sheriff Bolanos sent four deputies on a taxpayer-funded trip to Indiana, all as an apparent favor to a wealthy Atherton pal who thought he had waited too long for delivery of a custom-built Batmobile he had ordered.

As ABC 7 reported at the time, real estate agent Sam Anagnostou ordered a $210,000 Batmobile from Fiberglass Freaks of Logansport, Indiana, the only DC Comics-licensed purveyor of these goofy faux superhero cars. The auto shop owner said Anagnostou missed a deposit payment on the car and therefore got bumped to the bottom of the delivery list, even after he'd then paid in full. This led to complaints and a lawsuit filed in San Mateo County, which went nowhere, and that was where Bolanos stepped in. He sent the deputies to Indiana to collect "evidence" and put the Batmobile builder in jail for a couple of hours on suspicion of obtaining money by false pretenses and diversion of construction funds.

The incident was questioned publicly, but Attorney General Rob Bonta declined to investigate it.

Cal Matters notes that when Corpus took office, after running against her boss, Bolanos, in 2022, she was feted at a party with "a large custom bottle of champagne emblazoned with her name, the year and the sheriff’s office logo," and the phrase "A sheriff we can trust."

But then came Victor Aenlle, who had spent 17 years as a reserve deputy in the sheriff’s office but had never actually worked in law enforcement — he worked as a real estate agent. Corpus, who was married at the time, reportedly took a trip to Hawaii with Aenlle and her kids four months after getting elected — and her husband, another sworn officer in the department, reportedly told people that she told him he wasn't coming because there was no room left on the plane.

Corpus hired Aenlle, who had worked on her election campaign, to be her chief of staff, and reportedly tried to give him raises four times over four years. One of those was approved, and he was earning  $246,979.

Aenlle and Corpus continue to deny that they are in a romantic relationship, and Aenlle tells CalMatters they are just close friends. He maintains that Corpus was targeted because she was trying to upset a corrupt status quo in the department, and to cut back on deputies lucrative overtime hours — some deputies reportedly earned close to a half million dollars in overtime and salary each year.

"It’s fabricated," Aenlle tells CalMatters. "I’ve always spoken very highly and cared deeply about the sheriff. I came into the scene when she decided to run because I really saw the injustices in the department. I saw the abuse, the corruption."

Corpus is now likely going to be removed by the county's board of supervisors, following a March 4 special election in which voters overwhelmingly approved a charter amendment giving them removal ability. However they are taking their time with the process, and Corpus remains on the job amid tense circumstances.

There's also the issue of the 408-page report, prepared last fall by a retired judge at the behest of the board, based on interviews with 40 staffers in the sheriff's office, who gave accounts anonymously. Employees who cooperated with the investigation and gave testimony for the report say they fear retaliation, and some female employees expressed fear about Aenlle's presence in the sheriff's office building in January. The Palo Alto Daily Post reported that Corpus came to the office with Aenlle and a new puppy — a puppy that subsequently urinated quite a bit on the office floor — and that Aenlle appeared to be carrying a concealed weapon.

"Some of our female staff felt intimidated by Victor’s presence and requested to leave the office early due to concerns for their personal safety," said Sheriff's Captain Mark Myers in an email to employees at the time.

After Aenlle was terminated from the county job in November, County Manager Mike Callagy banned him from any non-public spaces owned by the county, however he was apparently still allowed to be there if he was accompanied by Corpus.

The alleged concealed-carry incident is interesting given Corpus's most recent seeming provocation. As we reported earlier this week, Corpus rehired Aenlle to an unpaid, volunteer position as a reserve deputy reviewing concealed-carry permit applications.

In some related recent history, the issuing of concealed-carry permits in exchange for gifts and bribes was something that brought down former Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith in 2022. So there's that.

There have not been any allegations of criminal wrongdoing against Corpus, but that is not to say there won't be any. San Mateo County District Attorney Steven Wagstaffe tells CalMatters that his office continues to investigate Corpus and is holding off on charges until the removal process is complete. Wagstaffe added that "There is evidence we have uncovered that provokes us to continue with our inquiry."

Previously: San Mateo County Sheriff Brazenly Rehires Alleged Boyfriend Whom the County Previously Dismissed