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Sullivan County resident Jhakem Degroat, age 31, of Monticello was arrested for the fourth time in Liberty on Friday, Oct. 13, said Chief Steven D’Agata of the Liberty Police.
All of the arrests stemmed from incidents surrounding his stalking and harassing behavior of an employee at a local bank in the village of Liberty, D'Agata said.
Liberty Police were first called to the bank in May for a report of an individual who was conducting themselves in a suspicious manner and harassing one of the bank’s employees, D'Agata said.
The chief said an investigation revealed that Degroat had sent an inappropriate e-mail to the employee. Degroat was advised to cease all contact with the bank and employees and was served with a trespass affidavit barring him from going to the bank for any reason.
In September police were again called to the bank because Degroat was at the location in violation of the trespass affidavit and was causing a disturbance by throwing items inside the bank, D'Agata said.
Degroat was taken into custody and again released on his own recognizance.
About a week later the Village of Liberty Police Department again arrested Degroat after an investigation into his conduct surrounding the bank and one of its employees, and charged him with stalking, police said.
He was again arraigned and released on his own recognizance, D'Agata said.
The court also issued an order or protection in favor of the bank employee at that time barring Degroat from having any contact with the employee and ordering him to stay away from the employee.
On Saturday, Sept. 30 the Village of Liberty Police Department responded to a report that Degroat was again back at the bank in violation of both the trespass affidavit and the Town of Liberty court order. He was immediately taken into custody by officers and charged with criminal contempt.
Degroat was again arraigned and released.
On Friday, Oct.13, the Village of Liberty Police Department again responded to a report that Degroat was back at the bank in violation of the trespass affidavit and the Town of Liberty court order.
Bank employees had called Liberty Police and reported that he showed up at the location and threw items from an employee's desk around the office, police said.
Degroat was charged with:
- Criminal contempt
- Harassment
- Stalking
- Criminal tampering
- Trespass
Degroat was arraigned in the Town of Liberty Court and remanded to Sullivan County Jail in lieu of $30,000 cash bail, $60,000 secured bond, and $90,000 partially secured bond.
Village of Liberty Police Chief Steven D’Agata stated, “ It is incredibly disheartening and frustrating that innocent victims must be repeatedly subjected to criminal conduct by individuals who are arrested and then immediately released under bail reform laws.
"It should not take an individual being arrested four times for flagrantly disregarding the orders of both the Police Department and the Town of Liberty Court order before he can be held on bail."
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