Suspect believed to have been using disposable cell phones to
call
n By Marilyn Dubil
Staff Writer
After a month of tedious detective work, Morgan Hill Police officers arrested a Morgan Hill man who was allegedly stalking a woman and threatening to harm her.
Joseph D. Deabreu Jr., 27, of Morgan Hill, was taken to county jail on Wednesday on two felony charges, stalking and making criminal threats, and a misdemeanor charge of making harassing phone calls.
The victim, according to Police Lt. Terry Booten, was an acquaintance of Deabreu, but “there was no dating relationship.”
Booten said the victim began receiving text messages on her cell phone but was initially unable to identify the source. The messages began arriving Oct. 12, and the victim contacted the police on Oct. 15, Booten said.
“We attempted contact with the suspect via the cell phone number, but only got a message that didn’t help us with the identity of the suspect at that time,” she said.
As the messages continued, the phone numbers changed, and the content of the messages changed. “They became more graphic and more threatening,” Booten said.
The victim began to believe the suspect was someone she knew because of the content in some of the messages.
“Through the course of the investigation, detectives were able to determine that the messages were sent by those prepaid phones you can buy at local convenience stores and other locations,” said Booten. “As the investigation was developing, detectives were obtaining surveillance tapes from various stores where those phones are sold and getting the phone records and speaking with representatives from the phone companies.”
Eventually, Booten said, a suspect was identified, and an arrest warrant and a search warrant for the suspect’s home were obtained. On Wednesday, officers served the warrants and arrested Deabreu without incident.
“During the course of the interrogation, the suspect admitted to making the phone calls,” Booten said.
Marilyn Dubil covers education and law enforcement for The Times. She can be reached by e-mail at md****@*************es.com or phoning (408) 779-4106 Ext. 202
