A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Friday for a Mukwonago man charged with violating a restraining order and stalking his ex-girlfriend in the Town of East Troy.
Peter R. Murphy, 51, was charged Feb. 10 in Walworth County Circuit Court with stalking, two counts of misdemeanor bail jumping and knowingly violating a harassment restraining order.
Murphy was arrested Feb. 4 when he was found sitting in the backyard leaning up against a house on East Shore Drive at about 11 p.m. after a neighbor reported seeing him in the yard. Murphy had been ordered Nov. 24 to have no contact with the woman who lives there, whom he used to date, or her residence, and not to consume alcohol.
The woman had obtained a harassment restraining order against Murphy on Aug. 5, and he had been charged with a misdemeanor offense for violating the restraining order in October.
At the time police arrested Murphy on Feb. 4, they had received multiple complaints of Murphy violating the restraining order.
On Nov. 24, the woman reported that Murphy was on her property knocking on her window at around 2 a.m. Police found Murphy on Beulah Park Road smelling like alcohol, according to the complaint. Murphy told police he was trying very hard to stay away from the woman, but said “the alcohol got the better of me,” according to the complaint.
On Oct. 25, the woman reported that her garbage can had been moved and her outdoor lighting had been tampered with, and she suspected Murphy. The woman’s outdoor camera captured pictures of Murphy on her property for about 10 minutes looking into windows, according to the complaint.
The Town of East Troy police department had fielded several other calls for suspicious activity at the woman’s property, according to the complaint.
When Murphy was arrested Feb. 4, he registered .25 on a preliminary breath test and had a bowel movement in his pants while he was being handcuffed, according to the complaint.
