Online relationship turns south with real world stalking allegations

DUNCAN — Investigators said an online relationship that didn’t work out in reality has led to allegations of stalking for a Hawaiian man.

The Stephens County District Court issued a felony arrest warrant Thursday for Osaiasi Funganimapa Tupou-Tuipulotu, 23, of Honolulu, Hawaii, for a count of stalking, records indicate. The crime is punishable by up to three years in prison.

The woman called police on May 25 to report harassment from Tupou-Tuipulotu. She said she’d met him online and they began a long-distance relationship. After a meeting in April, she decided things weren’t going to work out and ended things but since that time he sent several text messages from seven different phone numbers, according to the warrant affidavit. She said she blocks the number and he uses an app to create a new one, Duncan Police Detective Conner Newman stated.

Tupou-Tuipulotu flew to Oklahoma to contact her but returned after a week, the affidavit states. The woman said she was not aware he’d made a second trip and was staying in Duncan. 

Newman stated he looked at several messages where the woman told Tupou-Tuipulotu to leave her alone and not come to her home but his responses essentially ignored her request and he continued to say he was coming to see her, according to the affidavit.

Police spoke with Tupou-Tuipulotu and he said he was living in a nearby park that has a clear view of the woman’s home, Newman stated. According to the affidavit, Tupou-Tuipulotu said he was stranded in Duncan because his intent had been to come and stay with the woman despite being told no multiple times, according to the affidavit.

Oklahoma’s stalking statute defines stalking as intentionally following or harassing someone in a way that would cause a reasonable person to feel frightened, intimidated, threatened, harassed, or molested. Stalking can also include using a tracking device, such as a GPS, without the person’s consent. The statute was amended in 2022 to allow first-time stalking charges to be raised from a misdemeanor to a felony.

A $25,000 cash warrant bond was issued upon Tupou-Tuipulotu’s arrest.