A Morgantown man is accused of kicking down the door of a man he was stalking for several weeks leading up to the alleged incident.
Steven M. Griffin, 24, is charged with burglary by the Monongalia County Sheriff’s Department.
A deputy responded to the reported break-in at a Canyon Village home at 11:56 p.m. on Tuesday, according to a criminal complaint.
The victim told the deputy Griffin, who he knew from work, has been talking and harassing him for a few weeks. The victim showed the deputy “countless messages” and missed phone calls from Griffin. He blocked several numbers Griffin used but Griffin kept using new numbers, the complaint said.
On Tuesday, Griffin pretended to be a mutual friend over the phone and said he was coming over. The victim went to his door, saw Griffin approaching and locked the door, the complaint said. Griffin then kicked in the door and entered.
The victim screamed at Griffin to get out and the victim’s roommate chased Griffin out of the apartment then followed him back to his apartment, the complaint said. The roommate also identified Griffin as the man who broke in.
The victim said he believed Griffin broke in to assault him as well as continue his stalking and harassing, according to the complaint. He told the deputy he was scared and was visibly shaking.
Griffin was found at his home and told the deputy he didn’t leave that night. He told the deputy to ask him roommate, Hannah Corbin.
Corbin told the deputy she drove Griffin to Canyon Village because he said he needed to tell a friend bye. She said, she couldn’t see exactly what happened while sitting in her vehicle but it looked like Griffin was harassing the man, the complaint said.
Corbin told The Dominion Post she drove Griffin to the residence with her boyfriend.
She said Griffin told her he just wanted to go over and get “closure.”
She waited in the car while Griffin allegedly broke in, she said. When Griffin got back to the car after allegedly breaking into the home, he told her the victim yelled in his face and told him to go away, but it was fine, Corbin said.
Griffin was arrested at 2 a.m., on Wednesday, according to Corbin.
He was arraigned in Monongalia County Magistrate Court on $5,000 bond.
Corbin said Griffin was home by 10 a.m.
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