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Craig man charged with stalking, harassing ex

Police say a Craig man drunkenly stalked and harassed a former lover until his arrest Aug. 25.

Tyler Scott Smercina, 26, was arrested on a felony charge of stalking and misdemeanor charges of violation of a mandatory protection order (no contact with victim), violation of a restraining order (no alcohol), and harassment.

According to an arrest affidavit compiled by Craig Police Department Cpl. Grant Laehr, CPD responded to a home in Craig Aug. 25 to find the victim who told them Smercina had been calling and texting the victim — whose name is not being released — in the days prior.



Police said they had responded to the apartment before for a prior domestic violence call in which Smercina was arrested on a charge of assault – domestic violence, so Smercina had an active protection order prohibiting him from making contact with the victim.

Tyler Scott Smercina, 26, was arrested on a felony charge of stalking and misdemeanor charges of violation of a mandatory protection order (no contact with victim), violation of a restraining order (no alcohol), and harassment.
Jail courtesy photo

“(The victim) stated today that the last phone call Tyler stated, ‘I should have killed you’ prior to hanging up,” the affidavit said.



Police searched the victim’s phone and confirmed a host of calls and texts from Smercina.

“Today he called and texted 32 times and again, most of the calls were only minutes apart,” the affidavit said.

The victim told officers the victim’s child was forced to stay with their biological father in a nearby town.

Police soon acquired threatening text messages Smercina sent to the child’s biological father, according to the affidavit, saying the child’s father was going to be made “handicapped” and that the child “is going to watch (redacted) dad get ‘beat.’”

Police said the victim became emotional several times during their interview and “has been losing sleep and is in fear” of staying at the victim’s own home.

“Based on the above information, I believe (the victim) is experiencing serious emotional distress,” the affidavit said.

Police soon devised a plan to get all the probable cause they’d need to make an arrest, with the victim agreeing to call Smercina and letting officers listen on speaker phone.

Upon making contact with Smercina, the victim was able to convince Smercina to meet near his home. A reminder from the victim about the restraining order did not appear to matter to Smercina.

“Tyler stated in summary that he didn’t care about the restraining order. When speaking, Tyler’s words were very slurred,” the affidavit said.

Police soon responded to the home where Smercina has been living and found him on the front porch.

“Tyler was very unsteady on his feet and seemed to have difficulty focusing on me,” police said in the affidavit said. “I could smell the odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from Tyler.”

The affidavit said Smercina denied contacting the victim before police arrested him.

Police then turned their attention to Smercina’s physical state.

“I asked him how much he had consumed tonight and he said he had drunk 12 beers,” the affidavit said.

Police conducted a preliminary breath test on Smercina that allegedly showed a blood-alcohol content of .0355.

“Tyler was transported to the hospital for a jail clearance and later transferred to the jail and was booked on the charges without further incident,” according to the affidavit.

Smercina was issued a $2,000 bond. His next court appearance is at 2 p.m. Sept. 3 in Judge Sandra Gardner’s courtroom No. 2.


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