UPDATE: Man accused of stalking students now in custody
Sep 19, 2024, 6:32 PM | Updated: Sep 20, 2024, 1:00 pm
UPDATE: Oluwatobi Oludaisi Shokunbi, accused of stalking multiple women inlcuding University of Utah students, has been arrested and is in custody at the Salt Lake County Jail. Students were notified by email that he had been arrested. In a warrant issued Thursday in Salt Lake County, it was requested that Shokunbi be held without bail. The warrant was for criminal tresspass and lewdness.
SALT LAKE CITY — After a safety warning was issued about a man accused of stalking a university student, the Salt Lake County District Attorney filed charges against him, issued a warrant for his arrest, and asked that once arrested, he be held in custody.
University of Utah police issued a safety warning about Oluwatobi Oludaisi Shokunbi, 34, Wednesday, and said he was banned from the campus. Campus police said Shokunbi, also known as “King Rocky,” is accused of following a student into university housing. At press time, he is not in police custody.
Shokunbi is described as a Black male with a gray and black beard. He is said to be 6 feet tall, weighing approximately 250 pounds. University police ask anyone who sees Shokunbi to notify them by calling 801-585-2677.
Thursday, District Attorney Sim Gill issued the warrant and charges that claim Shokunbi entered a victim’s residence on Sept. 4, approached the same woman on Sept. 11 at a TRAX station, and on Sept. 14 he entered a residence hall at the U of U where the same woman was working on a project. Shokunbi was recognized from the previous two encounters and escorted from the hall by police.
Police say Shokunbi was involved in the following:
- Sept. 4 — Entered the apartment of three students who live off-campus
- Sept. 7 — Entered a different woman’s apartment, then was naked in the apartment complex’s community room and was arrested
- Sept. 11 — Approached a stalking victim from the Sept. 4 incident at a TRAX station
- Sept. 14 — Followed the woman from the Sept. 4 incident into residential housing, was identified and removed from campus
- Sept. 17 — Spotted at Kahlert Village dormitory and arrested for trespassing, later released
- Sept. 18 — Campus alert issued at the University of Utah
- Sept. 19 — Salt Lake County no-bail warrant issued for Shokunbi
- ++ — Police said there is a third incident but details have not been released
Thursday’s new charging documents accuse Shokunbi of entering a Salt Lake County apartment on Sept. 7 in a separate incident. The apartment belongs to a person known to Shokunbi from work but the woman living there told investigators she didn’t know him personally. He was told to leave while the victim and her roommate said they were not aware of how Shokunbi knew where his work associate lived.
At the same apartment complex on the same day, according to charging documents, Shokunbi was seen standing in the community room naked. Police looked at surveillance footage from the complex and identified Shokunbi as the man who entered the victim’s apartment. Shokunbi was taken into custody.
The warrant issued Thursday states:
… the State requests that Defendant be held without bail until further notice in this matter because the defendant is charged with a Criminal Trespass of a Dwelling, a Class A Misdemeanor, and Lewdness, a Class B Misdemeanor and there is substantial evidence supporting the charges and clear and convincing evidence that the defendant would constitute a substantial danger to the victim or to the community, if released on bail.
The warrant includes accusations about Shokunbi stalking another victim, presumed to be a student at the University of Utah, as detailed by campus police.
“The victims in this case did not know the defendant, nor did they have any kind of prior relationship with him,” the warrant states. “The defendant has put multiple female victims in fear for their safety and security within a short time frame and is escalating in his behavior. All the victims involved are young women who have been victimized in their homes or in other secured areas in which they have a right and expectation of protection … Due to the unique and highly emotional nature of the incident … the state believes that the defendant remain remain out of custody it is likely that the victims will suffer further harm at the hands of the defendant.”
KSL TV’s Garna Mejia said more charges may be coming.
In a press conference on Thursday, Cpt. Brian Lohrke with the University of Utah Department of Public Safety said that two weeks ago, someone reported Shokunbi entered the apartment of students who live off campus. Weeks after, the same man was reportedly seen following a girl into a dorm.
Shokunbi was arrested for trespassing days later, after he was back on campus at Kahlert Village residential housing building, and acknowledged he knew he was not supposed to be there, Lohrke said. He was booked into Salt Lake County Jail but was released.
“After that release, we had some concerns because of his willfulness to ignore our trespass order,” Lohrke said. “So we issued a campus-wide alert to the greater community of our campus.”
In the campus alert, police advised students to use the SafeRide program or a courtesy escort around campus, and instructed them to call the University Police if they see something suspicious.
“When we have some directed stalking activities toward our students, we take that very seriously,” Captain Brian Lohrke said. “And we want to make sure the community knows about it and contacts us if seen on campus again.”
