By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
A Monroe County man was arrested July 23 by Poarch Creek Police Department officers, and is charged with stalking two teenage girls and an adult woman and trying to talk the females into his car during an incident that took place in the parking lot of Wind Creek Casino & Hotel.
Escambia County Detention Center records show that 31-year-old Raymond Pellegrini II of Repton remained in the facility late Monday, August 9. He is being held under $250,000 bond on two counts of enticing a minor (Class C felonies) and three counts of second-degree stalking (misdemeanors).
According to a story in the July 27 edition of The Monroeville Journal, the incident that led to Pellegrini’s eventual arrest took place July 7 when three females, including two 14-year-olds, told PCI officers Pellegrini followed them when they left the McDonald’s just yards from the casino, then into the Wind Creek parking lot, near the theater entrance.
The females were headed to see a movie and had stopped at the fast-food establishment to grab a bite before the movie’s scheduled start.
The Monroeville newspaper reported that the three girls told police a man in a red SUV (later identified as Pellegrini) had followed them when they left McDonald’s, then circled their vehicle several times once they parked at Wind Creek.
The adult female reportedly displayed a can of pepper spray, but Pellegrini continued to circle their vehicle. The females reportedly moved their vehicle three times, but the accused stalker continued to circle them and drive by their car.
According to the newspaper, the frightened females called a friend already inside the entertainment complex, then began to approach the theater entrance. Pellegrini reportedly blocked their way and began yelling at the friend they had called, who by then had come outside. He also reportedly asked the three if they wanted to get inside his vehicle, then made an indecent proposal of a sexual nature before driving away.
Court documents show that Pellegrini drove the red SUV to an area scrap yard the next day in an apparent attempt to destroy evidence.
The Monroeville newspaper reported that if Pellegrini makes bond, he is forbidden to have contact with either victim or with anyone else under the age of 18. He was also permanently trespassed from Wind Creek property.