Katie Lafetra, who tried to submit a momentary protective order against an ex-boyfriend after his consistent stalking habits however was rejected, near the Pittman Wash Trail in Henderson, Sunday, April 2, 2023. (Rachel Aston/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @rookie__raeBrittany Bennett, left, and Jennifer Peterson, right, in the desert off Red Rock Canyon Road in Las Vegas, Saturday, April 8, 2023. Bennett and Peterson state they were both stalked by the exact same lady and state the option they have through UNLV and Metro has actually done nothing to assist them avoid it even more. (Rachel Aston/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @rookie__raeKatie Lafetra, who tried to submit a short-lived protective order versus an ex-boyfriend after his persistent stalking behavior however was denied, near the Pittman Wash Trail in Henderson, Sunday, April 2, 2023. (Rachel Aston/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @rookie__raeBrittany Bennett, left, and Jennifer Peterson, right, in the desert off Red Rock Canyon Road in Las Vegas, Saturday, April 8, 2023. Bennett and Peterson say they were both stalked by the same female and say the option they have through UNLV and Metro has actually done nothing to help them prevent it further. (Rachel Aston/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @rookie__raeKatie Lafetra, who tried to submit a temporary protective order against an ex-boyfriend after his consistent stalking behavior but was rejected, near the Pittman Wash Trail in Henderson, Sunday, April 2, 2023. (Rachel Aston/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @rookie__raeBrittany Bennett, left, and Jennifer Peterson, right, in the desert off Red Rock Canyon Road in Las Vegas, Saturday, April 8, 2023. Bennett and Peterson state they were both stalked by the very same female and state the recourse they have through UNLV and Metro has actually not done anything to help them avoid it further. (Rachel Aston/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @rookie__raeKatie Lafetra, who tried to submit a temporary protective order versus an ex-boyfriend after his consistent stalking habits however was rejected, near the Pittman Wash Trail in Henderson, Sunday, April 2, 2023. (Rachel Aston/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @rookie__rae
Because they wanted various things out of the relationship, Katie Lafetra split up with her partner of almost 3 years.

It was an amicable break up, she said, but within a couple of weeks Lafetra was fearing for her life.

" Shortly after I broke up with him, he started showing up at my house unannounced," Lafetra said. "I would see him driving around my gated complex."

Lafetra said he put a tracker on her vehicle, which she found after working with a private detective, and her ex-boyfriend, who is 50, would follow her around town. She completed rock climbing up one day and discovered her tires slashed.

Lafetra, 36, had turned into one of millions of individuals nationally, and hundreds in your area, who authorities say report being victims of stalking.

She moved into a brand-new house in January, and within 2 weeks, a rock flew through her bedroom window, leaving her covered in glass, she said, and somebody had spray painted an epithet on her garage door.

" Now I was actually beginning to get scared," she said. "He never showed obvious violence and aggression like this."

Lafetra tried unsuccessfully to get a short-term protective order. She called the Metropolitan Police Department the night the rock was tossed and filed a report, but a detective told her that without video of her ex tossing the rock, he would not pursue the case.

City records reveal that the department took 577 reports in 2015 for aggravated stalking including a hate criminal activity, stalking against a protective order and stalking online. In the exact same year, 97 stalking suspects were jailed.

Lafetra contacted Ashton Packe, a private investigator who established Vanguard Intelligence Group. Packe stated he has worked dozens of stalking cases as a private investigator and during his 20-year profession as a Metro officer.

Packe said Lafetra's ex-boyfriend has actually employed an attorney and is now the topic of an open criminal investigation on prospective charges of intensified stalking. Details on his attorney and any possible charges were not immediately available.

" Stalking, at the end of the day, has to do with power and control and someone's ability in what is their pitiful life to keep control over their victim," Packe stated. "It is the idea that I can relentlessly tinker you and do all this things and there's nothing you can do about it."

Pregnant and frightened

Liz Ortenburger, CEO of SafeNest, a shelter for victims of domestic violence, stated most of the stalking cases she sees involve exes who want to exhibit control.

" The stalkers' motivation is what we need to concentrate on," she said. "It's worry, control and power. They get satisfaction from that. Survivors in this situation are innocent spectators of somebody's else's desire to have power, control your feelings and impart worry in you."

When victims come to SafeNest is getting the victim to a safe place and checking out possible legal avenues, Ortenburger stated her concern.

" It is an incredibly scary circumstance and it's likewise an incredibly tight spot to show," she stated.

Jennifer Peterson faced a year of online stalking prior to she connected to Packe. Her stalker, Packe stated, is now the subject of a criminal examination as well.

Peterson was 7 months pregnant in August 2021 when a confidential account started messaging her on Instagram claiming her hubby cheated on her, they had proof they would drop off at her address which she ought to terminate her child.

" I didn't feel safe being house alone during the night," Peterson said.

She would later on discover that the person who was stalking her was dating her partner's pal. The lady sent out text messages to Peterson and made four accounts on Instagram threatening to eliminate her infant and informing Peterson hateful features of her marital relationship, her body and her child.

" This is the type of habits that plants seeds of doubts and triggers divorce," Peterson said, noting she was confident her other half had actually not cheated on her. "This is the kind of behavior that pushes a lady in postpartum depression even more into it and potentially toward suicide."

Peterson's marriage was not impacted, she said, but she did experience a "complex" postpartum with long-lasting bleeding, all while receiving despiteful messages on her Instagram account.

According to the most current data from the Department of Justice, approximately 3.4 million people 16 or older were stalked nationwide in 2019. About 29 percent reported the crime to police, in spite of 67 percent fearing they would be harmed or eliminated.

The Department of Justice specifies stalking as targeted conduct that would make someone fear for their life. Stalking is an escalation from harassment, federal authorities stated, which is duplicated actions or words to irritate somebody.

Unheard problems

Peterson submitted three times for temporary protective orders in the fall, but all three were rejected, due to the fact that the court stated she did not have enough information on the woman the very first two times, and a third since it had actually been 4 months because she last spoken with the suspect. Both women are students at UNLV, so Peterson submitted a complaint with the Office of Student Conduct in December.

A UNLV representative stated the trainee was no longer taking classes at the university, and declined to supply additional details.

" She did need to be talked to by the FBI which is intimidating, however if there's no real consequence, she's simply going to do this to somebody else," Peterson said. "They might not have the strong support group I have or the resources I have. It type of feels like my responsibility to secure the next person."

While the woman was sending hateful messages to Peterson, Brittany Bennett said the exact same lady threatened to kill her 9-year-old son, texting her from the same number.

Bennett had actually dated the female's current boyfriend for about six months.

" She called and I answered, but she would not speak," Bennett said. "The text messages kept getting more aggressive in the two-hour period. She mentioned my address 3 different times and said, ‘‘ I have weapons. I can come and show you and your child.'".

She told her ex-boyfriend, who broke and challenged the female up with her. However Bennett said she felt like she was not taken seriously by a Metro detective when she reported the risks.

" He told me at one point that Metro has bigger fish to fry and this was not important and he wasn't going to do anything," Bennett stated. "I was pissed. Somebody was informing me my address, the names of my member of the family which they're going to come to my house with a weapon.".

Metro authorities said in a declaration Thursday that anybody who felt an officer did refrain from doing their due diligence can report the circumstances to the Internal Affairs Bureau.

" The LVMPD takes every criminal report seriously and will take every step possible to determine the suspect( s) associated to a criminal offense," the declaration read. "In specific cases, a suspect can not be recognized or located based upon the details supplied or the proof that has actually been presented.".

Packe said people who think they are the victims of stalking need to keep a paper log with the scenarios, times and dates when they feel they are being harassed, seen or stalked. They ought to likewise make an online log, which can be emailed to authorities. He encouraged victims to break their routine.

" We enjoy to get up at the same time very day, pour the same cup of coffee and leave your home," Packe said. "This is the time where you can not be routine. You need to change up your motions and be hyper-situationally aware.".

Contact Sabrina Schnur at sschnur@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0278. Follow @sabrina_schnur on Twitter.