A Washington man arrested on stalking and harassment charges traveled to Connecticut after months of alleged emails and social media posts professing his love toward a University of Connecticut women’s basketball player who he has never met, according to the arrest warrant affidavit.
Robert Parmalee, 40, was issued a protective order on behalf of the victim during a hearing in Rockville Superior Court on Monday, according to online court records. The order prohibits him from contacting the woman or going to Mansfield, where UConn’s Storrs campus is located.
Parmalee’s hearing came after the UConn Police Department arrested him Friday on charges of electronic stalking, second-degree harassment and second-degree breach of peace.
According to the warrant affidavit, Parmalee has been sending emails for months and making social media posts in which he fantasized about a relationship with the victim and his desire to marry her. Despite having no connection with the university and having never met the woman, Parmalee has allegedly posted images of himself holding a ring that he intended to give her, the warrant affidavit said.
In a post made to TikTok, Parmalee allegedly created a video that showed a photo of the victim with another male and a caption that said “this is worth it for this guy huh? … this is just one guy, I’ll sacrifice him, no problems, no questions asked,” the warrant affidavit said.
In another TikTok post, he allegedly wrote a caption that said, “And if I cannot live with a woman of my choosing, (the victim), then I will choose to die, and I will choose to take all of you that pose me, oppose us, to hell, and return, king … I love you (victim), if you allow them to touch you, you allow them to die,” according to the warrant affidavit. He has also alluded to bringing her flowers and finding her mother’s home address, police wrote.
Investigators in the warrant affidavit said Parmalee appears to believe he and the victim are in a relationship.
According to the warrant affidavit, UConn officials held a Zoom meeting last Thursday in which administrators and police discussed a safety plan for the victim. Her parents and agents attended the meeting after learning that Parmalee was set to be released from custody the next day.
Parmalee was first arrested on Aug. 27 after state police spotted him walking along the shoulder of Route 20 East in Windsor Locks just before 11:10 a.m., an area which UConn police noted was close to Bradley International Airport. At the time, he had a warrant out for his arrest held by the Josephine County Sheriff’s Office in Grants Pass, Oregon, state police said. The extraditable warrant charged Parmalee with one count of first-degree arson.
According to the warrant affidavit in the harassment arrest, Parmalee told state police he was on his way to see the victim and had made a post on social media the previous day indicating he was traveling to Connecticut to get her expelled. He was charged at the time as a fugitive from justice.
A spokesman for UConn said university officials this week learned that Oregon law enforcement officials would move to dismiss the charges against Parmalee and that he would be released from custody.
The victim gave the UConn police department a statement on Friday in which she said she only learned of Parmalee’s alleged obsession with her when he was arrested in August after fans of hers shared a number of his social media posts, the warrant affidavit said. She said her concerns grew upon learning that he flew to Connecticut.
According to the warrant affidavit, while giving a statement to police, the victim dug through her Instagram direct messages and found that Parmalee had sent her messages dating back as early as February. Police described the messages as “benign in nature.”
A spokesperson for UConn said university officials in June became aware of Parmalee’s fascination with the victim after multiple people at the school received an email from him.
According to the warrant affidavit, Parmalee in the email expressed his desire to marry the victim and compared her to the Greek figure Athena and himself to Apollo. A spokesperson for the university said the conduct at the time did not rise to the criminal level.
UConn investigators on Friday obtained a warrant for Parmalee’s arrest in connection with stalking and harassment allegations. He was arrested later in the day and held over the weekend.
Following his arraignment on Monday, Parmalee remained held on a $100,000 bond and is due back in court on Oct. 22.
