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FLAGLER COUNTY, Florida (WESH) — A Flagler County man is accused of stalking his ex-girlfriend, stealing a teddy bear containing her son’s ashes, and making threats after their brief relationship ended.
According to an arrest report, 31-year-old Justin Fountain met the woman on Facebook Dating and dated her for only a few weeks before she ended the relationship.
The woman, who lives in Palm Coast, told police and deputies that she broke up with Fountain after he became “verbally aggressive with her and was attempting to control her everyday life.”
Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly said Fountain did not handle the breakup well.
“Stealing the ashes of her child and taking her medication and making all kinds of threats,” Staly said.
Fountain is accused of stalking, theft, and accessing the victim’s social media and phone accounts, including using some apps with location-tracking to find her.
The woman said she had kicked Fountain out of the Red Roof Plus where she had been living, but he continued to show up at her workplace, the hotel, and even a restaurant where she was eating with a friend.
When she returned to her room, she found it in disarray and discovered several items missing, including a teddy bear containing an urn with her son’s ashes.
“I can’t think of a more despicable person that would do that,” Staly said.
The arrest report also stated that Fountain claimed to have taken the woman’s insulin. Messages allegedly sent by Fountain, and edited for what the report said was “readability,” included threats such as, “Five seconds and I’m gonna set this teddy bear on fire,” and, “If you want your son back, tell Buddy to leave now.”
While a deputy was speaking with the woman, Fountain reportedly called her over 60 times from multiple numbers and sent more than 50 text messages. Some of the messages included pictures of the GPS in his car, which helped deputies track him down.
“Fortunately for us, he’s kind of a dumb criminal,” Staly said.
When deputies stopped Fountain on I-95 North, he denied any wrongdoing.
“She went and met up with somebody else, and so I confronted them about it, but I was never violent, never aggressive,” Fountain said in body camera footage. “I went to the room and got my stuff, which is in the car. If you look in the trunk, you can see my stuff’s in the car.”
Inside the car, deputies found the missing teddy bear containing the woman’s son’s ashes. Fountain was arrested and is now facing multiple felony charges.
“If he’s acting like this within just a couple weeks, there’s no telling what he is capable of doing,” Staly said.
The sheriff commended the woman for coming forward and encouraged others in similar situations to seek help from law enforcement.
If you or someone you know is in an abusive relationship, help is available through the domestic violence hotline at any time. You can reach it at 800-799-7233.
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