St. Cloud Man Facing 19 Counts of Stalking, Harassment and Assault

(KNSI) — A St. Cloud man is accused of stalking and assaulting his ex-partner over five months, including installing tracking devices on her car and sending more than 100 threatening calls and texts in a single day.

According to the criminal complaint, the problems started in August after the woman tried to break up with 29-year-old Hunter Paul Klemz. She found tracking devices on her vehicle three separate times. When she discovered the first device, Klemz closed the car hood on her head, then took her phone. The next day, he played an audio recording he had made of her conversations, said he wanted to hit her, and physically stopped her from leaving. On September 1st, Klemz trapped her in his garage and wouldn’t let her leave. She said she felt terrified and tried to bang on the windows for help before he grabbed and shook her, and then threw her phone on the ground. During a child custody exchange in November, she says he pulled on her clothing to stop her from leaving, followed her to her vehicle, and sat on her while trying to take her car keys. He then slammed her car door so hard the latch broke, punched her windshield, and threw something, possibly a tree branch, at her vehicle. On December 14th, Klemz called her 50 times and sent 70 text messages threatening to beat her and saying he would make her life a living hell.

The woman told investigators the ongoing harassment created constant fear in her life, and she started driving a family member’s vehicle to try to prevent him from stalking her. She had previously tried to get a harassment restraining order, but Klemz refused to be served and told her he would leave her alone if she dropped it, which she did. She also explained how she avoided making police reports because she didn’t want to prevent him from being a father, but felt his behavior gave her no other choice.

Klemz faces one count of felony stalking and two felony counts of threats of violence with reckless disregard. He’s also charged with three gross misdemeanor counts of illegal use of mobile tracking devices without a court order and 13 misdemeanor counts of domestic assault.

Klemz posted a $100,000 bond. His next court hearing is set for January 9th.

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