TEXARKANA, Texas–A Texarkana man is facing a stalking charge in Bowie County, Texas for allegedly tracking his former wife with a GPS device hidden in her car, which he is accused of vandalizing with a gender slur in Miller County, Ark.
Derek Keith Taylor, 51, came to the attention of law enforcement in Bowie County on Sept. 7 after his former spouse called 911 to report that she had found a GPS tracker hidden in her car beneath the rear seat, according to a probable cause affidavit. The woman told officers that she had suspected someone was tampering with her Jeep because she would find it unlocked after having left it locked in her driveway in Nash, Texas, just outside of Texarkana.
A neighbor had reportedly agreed to point a home security camera toward her driveway after her Jeep was vandalized the day before in Texarkana, Ark. The woman made a report Sept. 6 to Texarkana, Ark., police that a gender slur had been scratched into the paint on her vehicle. Court records show Taylor has been charged in Miller County with criminal mischief in connection with the alleged vandalism.
A review of the neighbor’s video surveillance system allegedly showed that someone had entered the woman’s Jeep early on the morning of Sept. 7 and left shortly after, according to the affidavit. The woman told officers that when she moved out of the residence she once shared with Taylor, she was unable to find the spare key fob to her Jeep in its usual place.
“The victim informed me that she was scared that the suspect would find a way to continue to track her, further damage her vehicle, or escalate beyond that,” the affidavit said. “The victim informed me that she has suspected he was tracking her for some time as on multiple occasions he had sent her messages showing he had knowledge of her whereabouts, who she was with and even what she was wearing.”
When Taylor was arrested Sept. 10, a Jeep brand key fob, multiple suspected tracking devices and a pair of binoculars were found in Taylor’s car, the affidavit said.
Taylor is currently free on a $10,000 bond in Miller County on the criminal mischief charge and is scheduled to appear in court for a status hearing later this month. He was released Sept. 13 in Bowie County on a $30,000 bond on the stalking charge.
If convicted of stalking in Texas, Taylor faces two to ten years in prison.
