Man held after pleading innocent in stalking case
Toolbox
By STEPHANIE M. PETERS STAFF WRITER - Published: July 17, 2009
A Cuttingsville man who allegedly violated a restraining order by calling his ex-girlfriend as many as 200 times a day and stalked her home pleaded innocent to two charges in Rutland District Court on Tuesday.
Billy Joe Gero, 31, is being held in Marble Valley Regional Correctional Facility on $10,000 bail for a felony aggravated stalking charge exacerbated by a court order violation and his fourth misdemeanor charge of driving with a suspended license.
At the time of the incidents, which occurred in late June and earlier this month, Gero was on furlough from the Department of Corrections, according to police affidavits.
According police, Gero's ex-girlfriend called Rutland City police around 11 p.m. July 5 to report that Gero had called her about 200 times that day, leaving several voicemails threatening to harm her.
She reported that recently she'd been unable to stay at her house because she was so afraid of ongoing threats made by Gero, according to the affidavit.
The woman had been granted a relief from abuse order against Gero in late May.
Early on July 7, the woman again called Rutland police to report a string of phone calls from Gero, who in messages he left said he had a gun and would use it if anyone tried to stop him from taking her car. In other messages left between July 5 and 6, Gero said he was in eyesight of her home and was watching each time the police left her residence. She also reported hearing Gero walking on her roof.
Gero's driving with a suspended license charge comes from a June 24 complaint from the same woman, who called police to report she believed her vehicle had been vandalized by Gero. Gero's blue Chevrolet Cobalt was found by police parked on Engrem Avenue. A few minutes later, Gero got into the car and left, but was stopped on North Main Street. According to police, Gero admitted his license was criminally suspended.
He was taken to the police department, where he was issued a citation before being released.
stephanie.peters@rutlandherald.com
32