BEDFORD – A Bedford man was arrested on a warrant after he violated a protective order by spying on a woman.
Police arrested 23-year-old Daniel Watterson on charges of resisting law enforcement, invasion of privacy, unlawful surveillance
On May 5, 2024, at 10:40 p.m., Deputy Clifford Pruett responded to Johnny Junxion after a woman reported Watterson had been following her for days, and she located a tracking device, an Apple Air Tag, in her vehicle.
The woman told police she had visited Karst Farm Park in Bloomington, and Watterson showed up there. She told police that Watterson kept showing up at places she went.
When she arrived at work at the gas station, she had her brother search her vehicle for a tracking device. He found the Apple Air Tag.
The woman says she knows the tag belonged to Watterson because he had sent her text messages with a picture showing a location pointed on an Apple mapping system.
She told police that Watterson had texted her, wanting to know where their son was, and included threatening text messages. His vehicle was parked at the car wash. The woman left the bank and got an alert on her phone, so she pulled into the parking lot across from the credit union to read the message. Watterson pulled up next to her vehicle and began yelling at her.
The woman told police that Watterson lives in Sugar Hill Addition and drives a silver Ford F150 with an American Flag sticker in the back window.
Police went to Watterson’s home, but no one answered the door.
On May 6, 2024, at 4:20 a.m., a woman called police reporting that Watterson was parked at the car wash on James Avenue. An officer responded and spoke to Watterson.
Watterson admitted the air tag was taken before the protective order was placed. He admitted putting the tag under his son’s seat in the woman’s car.
Watterson’s main concern was the woman was not letting him see his son. He was told to contact an attorney about the child custody and visitation issue.
When asked if he had followed the woman to Kirst Farm, Watterson was adamant he was not following her and that he had applied for a job there but had not seen her.
He admitted to texting the woman, requesting she get the remainder of her property. He stated that the woman would come to his home, grab a few items, and then have to come back and get more. He told police he wanted her to get all her items and stop making several trips.
Watterson said the female had told him she was sorry and still loved him.
On May 12, 2024, Watterson again violated the protective order.
On that day, at 10:38 p.m., a woman reported that Watterson had called her multiple times and left voice messages on her phone. The woman requested to speak to an officer.
Deputy D. Miller spoke to the woman who reported this was an ongoing issue with Watterson. She reported Watterson was texting and calling her non-stop from a blocked or private number. The woman admitted she had allowed Watterson to see his son so they could spend time together. However, there was no custody or visitation in place.
The information was forwarded to the Lawrence County Prosecutor’s Office, and two warrants for his arrest were issued.
On May 16, 2024, at approximately 11:42 p.m., Deputies Brenten Trueblood and Josh Rhoades learned Watterson was at a home in the 5000 block of US 50 East working on a vehicle. Police responded to detain Watterson on the outstanding warrants.
When Watterson saw the officers, he fled into a garage. The female property owner refused to allow officers to enter the garage. Police ordered Watterson out of the garage, but he refused to comply. Officers were granted a search warrant and found Watterson hiding in the trunk of a car. Officers attempted to open the trunk by hitting the trunk button twice, and Watterson would pull the trunk closed. On the third attempt, Officer Pruett was able to forcibly overpower Watterson from closing the trunk.
Watterson was given several commands to get out of the trunk but Watterson refused and had to be pulled from the trunk. He was handcuffed and transported to jail on outstanding warrants and a new charge of resisting arrest.
