Man accused of stalking UConn star Paige Bueckers is found with engagement ring near airport

A man accused of stalking and harassing UConn basketball star Paige Bueckers said on social media that he planned to marry her and had an engagement ring and lingerie with him when he was arrested near a Connecticut airport, police reports show.

Robert Cole Parmalee, 40, posted statements on TikTok and sent emails to University of Connecticut officials expressing his infatuation with Bueckers and containing threats, police said.

Parmalee, whose last known address was in Grants Pass, Oregon, and Ritzville, Washington, was taken into custody Monday after being arraigned at the courthouse in Rockville, Connecticut. He was also ordered to stay away from a person referred to in court as “PB” and barred from entering the UConn campus in Storrs.

His public defender did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Tuesday.

Parmalee was first arrested on Aug. 27 while walking on a highway near Bradley International Airport in Hartford. He told a police officer he had just flown in from the Pacific Northwest and was on his way to see Bueckers at UConn, police reports said. He was also found in possession of a ring and lingerie.

The officer took Parmalee into custody when he learned there was an arrest warrant out of Josephine County, Oregon. The warrant accused Parmalee of setting fire to a home with roommates and pets inside, police said.

Parmalee had posted photos, videos and comments about Bueckers on TikTok and other social media platforms and had been sending emails to UConn officials since June with rambling comments, including his desire to marry Bueckers, police said. The postings and emails did not initially warrant criminal charges, but his comments became concerning over time, the reports said.

In an affidavit accompanying the arrest warrant, the name of the UConn student to whom Parmalee’s posts were directed is redacted and referred to only as “V1,” but it also says that Parmalee had expressed his desire to marry V1 on social media.

“Parmalee has exhibited continuous, escalating behavior, making targeted electronic postings about V1 and threatening those close to V1, which has caused V1 emotional distress over the past two weeks,” a UConn police official wrote in Friday’s affidavit.

V1 told police she discovered that Parmalee had been sending her various videos to her Instagram direct messages since February, but that they did not contain any threats. She said she did not respond to the messages. She said she became concerned about her own safety, that of her family and her teammates after learning of Parmalee’s arrest near the airport.

In a TikTok post reviewed by the Associated Press, Parmalee referenced a photo of Bueckers and an unnamed man and wrote, “This is worth it for this guy huh? … this is just a guy I’ll sacrifice him no problems no questions.” The police reports mention this post and refer to V1.

In another post, he talked about bringing V1 flowers and finding her mother’s house, police said. In another post, he also wrote that if he couldn’t live with the woman of his choice – by which he meant V1 – then he would “choose death and bring all those who stand against me and oppose us to hell.” According to the police report, he also tells V1, “If you let them touch you, you’re letting them die.”

In a TikTok post before arriving in Connecticut, Parmalee wrote, “I’m coming to UCONN Paige Madison Bueckers, I’ll be in Hartford tomorrow morning,” and included a photo of himself with plane tickets at an airport.

Parmalee was initially arrested on an arson warrant in Oregon before UConn police charged him with stalking, harassment and disturbing the peace.

According to police reports, Parmalee has a criminal record dating back to 2002, including arrests for sexual abuse, harassment, burglary, driving under the influence and methamphetamine possession. Police officials in Oregon told Connecticut authorities they had no information on calls about mental health issues related to Parmalee.