Seattle Police officer-in-training placed on unpaid leave for alleged cyberstalking

A Seattle Police officer-in-training was placed on unpaid leave for allegedly cyberstalking a woman for nearly a year after they went on one date in 2021. 

According to court documents, the 22-year-old suspect went on a date with a woman he met on Facebook on Nov. 11, 2021. During that date, the suspect told the woman that he was attending the Police Academy and asked if she wanted to see his gun and badge in his bedroom, according to court documents. The woman told police she declined several times after he asked her repeatedly. 

Becoming uncomfortable, the woman asked to be driven back to her car so she could go home. She told police she did not want to continue any relationship with the suspect after, but he allegedly sent her several messages on Instagram, and allegedly created a second account to message her when she blocked him on the first.  

According to court documents, the suspect messaged her on multiple social media platforms and used several different cell phone numbers to text her throughout the span of several months. Documents say the messages initially stopped in mid December 2021, but the victim was contacted multiple times again starting in August 2022.

"Victim stated she is scared of Suspect since remembering how pressuring he was to show her his gun. She is also scared since he knows her address, since on the first date she stopped there to get a jacket. She doesn’t know why he is so obsessive and started up again after 8 months. She has not seen him around her residence," court documents say. 

So far in the investigation, it does not appear that the suspect used a police database to find her number each time, since she never gave it to him in the first place.  

The suspect graduated Police Academy in March and entered SPD’s field training program this year and is still in his probationary period.

He was placed on administrative leave without pay.