Arrest warrant issued against man accused of stalking university student

SALT LAKE CITY – After issuing a safety alert about a man accused of stalking a college student, the Salt Lake County District Attorney filed charges against him, issued a warrant for his arrest, and requested that he be held in custody upon his arrest.

University of Utah police issued a security alert for 34-year-old Oluwatobi Oludaisi Shokunbi on Wednesday and said he was banned from campus. Campus police said Shokunbi, also known as “King Rocky,” is accused of following a student into the university dorm. He was not in police custody at press time.

On Thursday, District Attorney Sim Gill issued the arrest warrant and charges alleging that Shokunbi entered a victim's apartment on Sept. 4, approached the same woman at a TRAX station on Sept. 11 and entered a University of Utah dormitory where the same woman was working on a project on Sept. 14. Shokunbi was recognized from the two previous encounters and escorted out of the dormitory by police.

In new charging documents released Thursday, Shokunbi is accused of entering a Salt Lake County apartment on Sept. 7. The apartment belongs to a person who knows Shokunbi from work, but the woman who lives there told investigators she did not know him personally. He was asked to leave, while the victim and her roommate said they did not know how Shokunbi knew where his co-worker lived.

According to charging documents, Shokunbi was seen standing completely naked in the common room of the same apartment complex that same day. Police examined surveillance footage from the complex and identified Shokunbi as the man who entered the victim's apartment. Shokunbi was taken into custody that same day.

The arrest warrant states:

…the State requests that the defendant be held in custody without bail in this matter until further notice because he is charged with trespassing (a class A misdemeanor) and lewdness (a class B misdemeanor) and there is substantial evidence in support of that charge and clear and convincing evidence that the defendant would pose a substantial danger to the victim or the community if released on bail.

The arrest warrant alleges that Shokunbi stalked another victim, believed to be a student at the University of Utah.

“The victims in this case did not know the defendant or have any prior relationship with him,” the warrant states. “The defendant has placed multiple female victims in fear for their safety over a short period of time and his behavior has escalated. All of the victims involved are young women who have been assaulted in their homes or other secure areas where they have a right and expectation of protection…Due to the unique and highly emotional nature of the incident…the State believes that if the defendant is not taken into custody, he will likely suffer further harm at the hands of the defendant.”

KSL TV's Garna Mejia said more charges could follow.

In a press conference Thursday, Captain Brian Lohrke of the University of Utah Department of Public Safety said Shokunbi broke into the home of students living off campus two weeks ago. Weeks later, the same man was reportedly seen following a girl into a dorm.

Shokunbi was arrested days later on a trespassing charge after he was back on campus at the Ekller Village housing building and admitted he knew he wasn't supposed to be there, Lohrke said. He was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail but released.

“After that release, we had some concerns because he was willfully ignoring our trespassing notice,” Lohrke said. “So we issued a warning to the entire campus community.”

As part of the campus alert, police advised students to use the SafeRide program or have a free escort accompany them around campus and asked them to call university police if they see anything suspicious.

“When we target our students, we take that very seriously,” said Captain Brian Lohrke. “And we want to make sure the community knows about it and contacts us if she is seen on campus again.”

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