A Morgantown man was charged in Monongalia County Magistrate Court Thursday with stalking or harassment in violation of a protective order. The order had been issued in response to domestic battery and destruction of property charges in May.
According to a criminal complaint, on May 4, Philip Owusu Adarkwah, 24, was arrested and later pleaded guilty to domestic battery and destruction of property charges. The victim of his crimes filed for a domestic violence protective order which extends to Dec. 4, 2024.
Since that time, the victim contacted law enforcement on four separate documented occasions regarding violations of the order, as well as a fifth time earlier this week.
On June 3, court records state the victim alleged Adarkwah had fraudulently accessed a credit card in her name.
Seven days later on June 10, the victim claimed he drove through her development and contacted her. Deputies with the Monongalia County Sheriff’s Department were able to confirm this after they were made aware of an interview conducted by WVU student conduct, during which Adarkwah allegedly admits to this incident.
In early August, Adarkwah was arrested by Officer Decastro with the Morgantown Police Department after a witness confirmed he spoke with the victim at the Walmart on Retail Drive.
Following a hearing on Sept. 5 regarding himself and the victim, Adarkwah was seen waiting outside of the courthouse despite being directed to have no contact with the victim and to not follow her.
Approximately 45 minutes later, the complaint states he appeared at the same restaurant as the victim and another witness corroborated the story.
On Sept. 8, the victim had to contact law enforcement after a male was caught on her security cameras attempting to break into her residence via a window — the same method Adarkwah used in the initial domestic incident.
The male, identified as Adarkwah by the victim, then removed the lug nuts from the passenger side of the victim’s vehicle but left the wheels in place.
Deputy Watkins stated in the complaint he was also made aware of a motion filed by Adarkwah to legalize contact between himself and the victim and would receive text messages where Adarkwah would admit to wanting to speak with the victim while messaging her friends.
Adarkwah was arraigned Thursday morning and bond was set at $75,000.
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