Inset: Justin Fountain (Flagler County Jail). Background: Fountain during his arrest after he allegedly stalked his ex-girlfriend and sent her threatening text messages (WESH/YouTube).
A Florida man who could not handle his girlfriend of just a few weeks dumping him allegedly sent her threatening messages and stole a teddy bear that contained her dead son's ashes.
Justin Fountain, 31, is facing several charges, including cyberstalking, illegal use of a tracking device and accessing a computer without authority, court records show.
Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly said he can't fathom someone stealing a loved one's ashes.
"I can't think of a more despicable person that would do that," Staly told local NBC affiliate WESH.
The sheriff's office began investigating on Saturday when the victim filed a stalking complaint against Fountain, a probable cause arrest affidavit said. She said she recently moved from Virginia to Florida and met Fountain online. The two began casually dating, but Fountain became "verbally aggressive with her and was attempting to control her everyday life," cops said.
She told Fountain she no longer wanted to see him and asked him to stop contacting her and return a spare key from the hotel where she was staying in Palm Coast.
But Fountain apparently refused to accept the rejection. He allegedly showed up at her workplace unannounced. When she returned to the hotel, she saw Fountain's car parked outside, cops wrote. A friend picked her up to eat at Culver's and Fountain allegedly showed up there, too, and tried to speak with her.
After Culver's, the victim and her friend went to the beach. While there, she received alerts about someone accessing her social media accounts. She "immediately" knew it was Fountain, the affidavit stated. She believed the defendant may have obtained her passwords when he grabbed her phone while she was sleeping.
When the victim returned to her hotel room, she realized the teddy bear that stored her son's ashes was missing.
During the ordeal, Fountain allegedly sent several threatening text messages.
"You need to answer my calls if you know what's good," he said, according to cops.
"I'm going to destroy you," he allegedly said in another.
The alleged threats continued: "I will not go away peacefully. I'll make every day of your life a living hell. I promise you."
Fountain also referenced the teddy bear in one message.
"Five seconds and I'm gonna set this teddy bear on fire," he wrote, according to police.
Fountain was unhappy when he found out she went to the cops. He allegedly claimed that he told police about outstanding warrants she had from Virginia.
"They're on their way to get you," he allegedly told her.
In all, cops say Fountain called her some 60 times from multiple phone numbers and sent her over 50 text messages.
Investigators obtained an arrest warrant and set out to find him. They were aided when Fountain sent text messages with photos showing his GPS location. Deputies arrested him.
As of Tuesday afternoon, he remained at the Flagler County Jail on a $61,000 bond. His next court date is set for Sept. 1.
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