A man in Altoona, Pennsylvania was arrested for allegedly stalking his ex-girlfriend after he bugged her vehicle with a tracking device paid for using her debit card, according to local news reports.
After they briefly dated between December 2020 and January 2021, Matthew McDonald, 46, allegedly continued contacting the victim repeatedly, according to Fox8. He would apparently text her from various phone numbers stating he was aware of her location and would drive around her workplace, she told police.
The woman eventually discovered a small GPS device in her car, Fox8 reported. She also found out her debit and unemployment cards were being used to make a recurring payment of $40 on Amazon without her permission. The amount charged to the victim was estimated at $600.
SpyTec, the company manufacturing the device, which provides real-time location to its owner, said the item belonged to McDonald, who allegedly used the woman's debit card for payment, according to Fox8.
McDonald allegedly called the victim a "snitch" in a message after police removed the tracking device from her car. He currently sits in Blair County Prison, awaiting his preliminary hearing on May 5.
Police found the GPS tracker to be the same one McDonald had used in a previous stalking incident he was jailed for.
In 2019, McDonald was arrested on similar charges, the Altoona Mirror reported at the time.
He pleaded guilty to several crimes, including stalking, theft and prowling at night, after another ex-girlfriend reported similar behavior to police, according to court documents seen by the Altoona Mirror.
McDonald subjected the victim, a woman he dated until October 2018, to a campaign of harassment until she discovered a tracking device on her car in November 2019, still according to the Altoona Mirror.
The newspaper said police identified the device as a Spytec STI GL300. He tracked the woman's movements for eight months.
McDonald was accused of sending his previous victim texts indicating he knew of her location, as well as that of a man he believed she was romantically involved with. He also sent her messages with derogatory content, as well as comments about her lifestyle from November 2018 to November 2019.
Police said McDonald vandalized the victim's car on multiple occasions, having smashed its glass components, spray painted the vehicle, slashed all four tires, cut the serpentine belt and stolen her license plate three times, the Altoona Mirror reported. It wasn't until she saw holes into her car radiator that she discovered the tracking device attached to the bumper.
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