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Florida Man Allegedly Sent Woman 118 Texts In 8 Hours

By Chelsea Hoffman
Published on: 12:01 PST, May 22, 2016

A Florida man has been arrested after authorities say he sent a woman approximately 118 text messages over a span of eight hours. PIX11 News reports that 34-year-old William Thomas Hardaway was taken in to police custody on Thursday after the woman couldn’t take the alleged harassment any longer.

Police in Gainesville say that the 34-year-old man started harassing the unnamed female victim sometime on May 6. The alleged victim told police that she told Hardaway to leave her alone and stop contacting her, but he did not respect her wishes. Over the course of eight hours, the Florida man reportedly sent the woman close to 120 text messages. He also called her cellphone twice and called her work phone at least four times.

This isn’t the first time this type of stalking has made media headlines. In 2011, a 42-year-old woman from The Hague was arrested and charged with stalking after she reportedly called her ex-boyfriend at least 65,000 times in a span of one year. Forbes reports that the woman made an average of 200 calls per day, or 11 calls per hour to her former romantic interest.

In 2014, a Framingham man was arrested for harassing his ex-girlfriend. He allegedly called her phone more than 200 times in a single night, even though the woman had a restraining order against him at the time. The 34-year-old man ultimately turned himself in to the police to face the music.

Earlier this year, a Delaware woman was arrested after she allegedly called a man’s mobile phone more than 300 times in a span of one day. Kourtney R. Furber was charged with harassment in the incident. The alleged victim also told police that in addition to calling his phone over 300 times, she also tried to confront him physically at his place of employment.

In this latest case involving Florida man William Thomas Hardaway, authorities have charged him with stalking, but no other details are available on whether or not he’s being held on bond or if he’s been released from jail. Police in Gainesville have, however, revealed that the alleged victim in this case had a relationship with the Florida man while she was married. She had broken up with Hardaway in order to mend her marriage, and that is when the harassment allegedly began. Police say that at least one of the text messages contained threats against the woman’s husband. The details of the text messages have not been published.



Stalking is a major crime in the United States, with thousands of reported cases each year. According to the Violence Prevention and Action Center, one in six women and one in 19 men in the United States have been victims of stalking. Furthermore, the average “duration” of being stalked lasts a little over a year. In very few cases, stalking can end in the deaths of the victims.

[Photo via Gainesville Police (mugshot)]

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