A man accused of stalking UConn star Paige Bueckers is found with an engagement ring near airport
A man accused of stalking and harassing UConn basketball star Paige Bueckers said on social media that he intended to marry her and had an engagement ring and lingerie in his possession when he was arrested near a Connecticut airport, according to police reports.
Robert Cole Parmalee, 40, posted statements on TikTok and sent emails to University of Connecticut officials that showed an infatuation with Bueckers and included threats, police said.
Parmalee, whose last known addresses were in Grants Pass, Oregon, and Ritzville, Washington, was ordered detained on $100,000 bail Monday after being arraigned on the charges in the courthouse in Rockville, Connecticut. He was also ordered to stay away from a person named in court as “P.B.” and banned from the UConn campus in Storrs.
His public defender did not immediately return an email seeking comment Tuesday.
Parmalee was initially arrested on Aug. 27 while walking along a highway near Bradley International Airport near Hartford. He told a state trooper that he had just flown in from the Pacific Northwest and was on his way to see Bueckers at UConn, the police reports said, adding he was found with a ring and lingerie.
The trooper took Parmalee into custody when he learned there was an arrest warrant out of Josephine County, Oregon, accusing Parmalee of setting a home on fire with roommates and pets inside, police said.
Parmalee had posted photos, videos and comments about Bueckers on TikTok and other social media platforms and had been emailing UConn officials since June with rambling comments including his desire to marry Bueckers, police said.
The postings and emails initially did not warrant criminal charges, but his comments became alarming over time, the reports said.
An arrest warrant affidavit redacts the name of the UConn student at whom Parmalee’s posts were directed and names her only as “V1,” but says Parmalee posted on social media about his desire to marry V1.