A Twentynine Palms man was arrested at his home on Friday after federal prosecutors claim he made more than 10,000 harassing phone calls to government offices between January and November of this year.
Robert Stahlnecker, 48, made death threats to an intern and a congressional staffer in the calls, the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California said in a news release.
On August 28, Stahlnecker called a congresswoman’s office in San Mateo, California three times within a span of five minutes, according to an affidavit filed with a criminal complaint that was unsealed today. During the calls, Stahlnecker allegedly berated the intern who answered the call, using vulgar language to insult her, and finally, threatened to come to the senator’s office to kill her.
On September 26, Stahlnecker allegedly made eight telephone calls within a seven-minute span to the Washington, D.C., office of a U.S. Senator from Ohio. During the calls, Stahlnecker allegedly berated the intern who answered the call, using vulgar language to insults and finally, threatening to come to the senator’s office to kill her.
Stahlnecker frequently called to complain about a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in Loma Linda, “and then launches into profanity-laced, obscene, and offensive tirades,” the complaint said (via Sacramento Bee).
In one of the calls, officials say Stahlnecker told an intern, “I am going to come to your office and kill you, you miserable little c–t.”
In another call, the complaint states that Stahlnecker got angry when an intern wouldn’t reveal her name and told her he was “keeping a list of the b—-es that hang up on him.”
Prosecutors say that the U.S. Capitol Police have been investigating Stahlnecker since 2009 or earlier, with 41 investigations regarding calls he has mad to more than 50 elected officials.
He faces charges of threatening federal officers and employees, interstate communications with threat to injure a person, and anonymous telecommunications harassment.
