The Latest: Extreme stalking case hearing to be held in Utah
Nov 28, 2019, 10:54 AM
FILE - This March 21, 2019 file photo shows a warning sign and a police officer's vehicle at Walt Gilmore's home in North Salt Lake, Utah. U.S. prosecutors arrested Loren Okamura, a Hawaii man, on Nov. 22, who they accuse of sending hundreds of unwanted service providers to the Utah home, including plumbers and prostitutes. It's unknown why the Gilmores were targeted or what if any relationship exists between Okamura and the family. Homeowner Walt Gilmore told The Associated Press in March he couldn't discuss why a protective order was sought against Okamura but that he was sure the extreme stalking was not random. (Laura Seitz/The Deseret News via AP, File)
(Laura Seitz/The Deseret News via AP, File)
HONOLULU (AP) — The Latest on a Hawaii man accused of sending hundreds of unwanted service providers and others to a Utah home, including plumbers and prostitutes.
(all times local):
2:30 p.m.
A man arrested in Hawaii wants a detention hearing in Utah, where he’s accused of sending hundreds of unwanted service providers and others to a home, including plumbers and prostitutes.
Loren Okamura was in federal court in Honolulu Wednesday for a detention hearing. Federal defender Sharron Rancourt says he wants to have that hearing in Utah, where federal prosecutors say he tormented a family with what they described as extreme cyberstalking.
Okamura was indicted last month on charges of cyberstalking, interstate threats and transporting people for prostitution.
Rancourt says Okamura has been mourning his wife, who died earlier this year.
Okamura will be detained in Honolulu until he’s taken to Utah.
Authorities won’t disclose the relationship between the victims and Okamura, but say it was not random. Rancourt declined to comment after the hearing.
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Midnight
U.S. prosecutors say a Hawaii man tormented a Utah family for over a year by sending more than 500 people to their house for unwanted services, including plumbers and prostitutes.
Loren Okamura is scheduled for a detention hearing Wednesday in Honolulu, where he was arrested.
Authorities say Okamura targeted a father and her adult daughter, sending the woman threatening messages and posting her picture and address online. One posting said the homeowner wanted drugs and prostitutes at the house in a quiet, middle-class neighborhood in a Salt Lake City suburb.
Okamura’s federal public defender, Sharron Rancourt, didn’t immediately return a phone message and emails seeking comment.
Authorities won’t disclose the relationship between the victims and Okamura, but say it was not random.
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McCombs reported from Salt Lake City.
