By Jacob Mathias

After calling and threatening his estranged wife 32 times over the course of nearly eight hours, a Stevens Point man is facing multiple felony charges including stalking and threatening a police officer.

Angel Bernal, 42, is charged with felonious stalking, for which he could face up to $10,000 in fines, three years and six months imprisonment or both if convicted. He is also charged with threatening a law enforcement officer which carries a maximum sentence of up to a $10,000 fine, six years imprisonment or both.

Bernal made his initial appearance in Portage County Circuit Court on May 31.

According to court documents, on May 17 at 11:10 PM, a Stevens Point police officer responded to a home on the 700 block of John’s Drive after receiving a complaint of harassing text messages and phone calls.

Upon arrival the officer met with a man who reported that his girlfriend’s estranged husband, Bernal, had been calling nonstop that day and threatening to kill her. The man also said that 10 minutes prior to the officer’s arrival, Bernal had been watching them from the parking lot.

Bernal’s estranged wife then spoke to the officer and reported that nothing was going on and her boyfriend had “no idea what he’d gotten himself into”. Initially she said she didn’t want to pursue charges because she feared the defendant was going to kill her.

According to the complaint the woman was very upset and crying.

The victim reported that earlier that day at at 5:15 AM Bernal had entered the apartment and raised his fist as if he was going to hit her but then did not.

Later that day, beginning at 3:51 PM, Bernal began repeatedly calling the woman and threatening to kill her. When the officer was with the victim he reports Bernal calling a total of seven times.

“I will kill you tomorrow or the next day,” said Bernal during two of the seven phone calls.

The officer answered the phone and identified himself for the next five calls.

“I do not care who you are. I will kill her and then I will kill you,” said Bernal to the officer.

The woman also told police Bernal follows her home from work, then sits in the parking lot for long periods of time watching who comes and goes from the apartment. The woman and Bernal have been separated for two years, she said.

She also told police Bernal injured her in the past badly enough that she should have gone to the hospital, but didn’t because she feared he would kill her.

Bernal is being held on a $2,000 cash bond. He returns to court on June 20 at 3:00 PM for a preliminary hearing.