Woman says ex-boyfriend ignores order, is stalker

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

A Youngstown woman told police she is dealing with an ex-boyfriend who is stalking her, and he does not seem to be concerned about a court-issued protection order.

The Maywood Drive woman told police she has a protection order against her former boyfriend but spotted the man lurking around her basement windows Sunday. She called police with a similar complaint Friday because the man was hanging around her South Side home.

Neighbors told police they have witnessed the man park on side streets near the home and sneak through yards to reach the house without the woman knowing he is in the area. Neighbors on the street said they now will call police if the ex-boyfriend, who has a home on Detroit Avenue, is spotted anywhere near the house.

Stalking became a major issue locally after Robert P. McLaughlin ambushed and killed Stacey Sutera outside her Canfield home earlier this month. McLaughlin then killed himself hours later as police conducted a statewide manhunt.

McLaughlin shot Sutera as she was getting into her car. She was shot multiple times, apparently tried to drive away, and was shot again.

McLaughlin had been stalking Sutera for nearly two years before the shooting.

Sutera, like the Maywood Avenue woman, sought protection under the law with orders preventing the stalker from coming anywhere near her. Suspects in both cases paid little or no attention to the legal protection orders.

Police have suggested documenting every instance of stalking against someone held by a protection order so violations can be handled by the courts.