BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. A Bridgeport police officer has been arrested and charged with two counts of stalking and one count of obtaining confidential public information after a series of incidents with his ex-girlfriend and her boyfriend.
Between July 2023 and April 2024, William Townsend, who during that time was employed as a police officer in the city of Bridgeport, is accused of stalking and harassing his ex-wife and her new boyfriend at their home and in public.
His ex-girlfriend reported that Townsend’s police cruiser was parked outside of her apartment behind her boyfriend’s vehicle while he allegedly sent explicit messages to her.
Townsend is also accused of requesting personal information about the boyfriend using his position as a police officer from Harrison/Taylor County 911.
Townsend is also accused of calling her new boyfriend a “child molester” and harassing the couple at an event at Bridgeport High School. At a track meet at Liberty High School, Townsend allegedly threatened the boyfriend with a criminal investigation and made several inappropriate comments to their children.
Townsend has entered not guilty pleas to all charges and is scheduled for a pre-trial hearing on August 12 at 2 p.m. in Harrison County Magistrate Court.