Warrant issued after Spirit Lake man skips arraignment

SPIRIT LAKE — A warrant was issued Friday after a Spirit Lake man failed to appear at an arraignment hearing connected to an alleged stalking incident in mid-January. 

Jacob Lee Willey, 33, was set to be arraigned March 7, for stalking in the second-degree. Willey, however, was not present during the hearing due to being detained at Ferry County Jail in Washington state on an unspecified felony. Due to his absence, and history of posting a $10,000 bail, District Court Judge Luke Hagelburg issued a $25,000 bench warrant in the case.  

Willey is accused of obsessively contacting and harassing a victim through social media. According to a probable cause affidavit, Willey and the victim shared a five-year relationship before civilly ending things. Until recently, court documents shared, the two were not in contact with each other.  

Two years after the break-up, Willey allegedly reached out to the victim in regard to his admittance into a mental hospital, according to court documents.  After more time had passed, the documents indicate the victim noticed that she had allegedly received over 50 messages and notifications from the defendant.  

The messages allegedly included death threats, graphic images and videos. Court documents also indicated that Willey allegedly made several public posts about the victim. The probable cause affidavit suggested that the victim felt unsafe and on-edge due to the obscenity of the messages and posts.  

Willey could face up to one year in jail and/or a $1,000 fine if found guilty.