A 40-year-old man is facing charges for allegedly stalking and harassing UConn women’s basketball star Paige Bueckers.
Robert Cole Parmalee of Grants Pass, Oregon, appeared in Connecticut Superior Court on Monday after being arrested by UConn police on Friday. He is currently being held on $100,000 bail.
Connecticut State Police had previously arrested Parmalee on Aug. 27 after he was spotted walking on a controlled-access highway near Hartford. Parmalee told police he was on his way to see Bueckers, 22.
Parmalee first appeared on UConn’s radar in June after sending a series of strange emails to the university’s communications department, school police said. Claiming to be part of the royal family, Parmalee allegedly wrote that she wanted to marry someone who was involved with the Huskies’ women’s basketball team.
Robert Cole Parmalee (right), 40, has been charged with allegedly harassing and stalking women’s basketball star Paige Bueckers (left)
The Oregon native also referenced Bueckers in several social media posts. One contained a fake wedding invitation, while others showed him wearing what was possibly an engagement ring.
He also posted before his arrest on Aug. 27 that he intended to propose to Bueckers and get her expelled from UConn.
A school police officer noticed other alarming posts from Parmalee, including one from her TikTok account.
“And if I cannot live with a woman of my choosing, (Bueckers), then I will choose to die, and I will choose to take all who oppose me, who oppose us, to hell, and back, king…” the post read.
An affidavit said Parmalee had been messaging Bueckers on Instagram since February. The Huskies guard never responded, according to the document. She told UConn police on Friday that she feared for her safety and that of her family and teammates, the affidavit stated.
Parmalee is said to have created fake wedding invitations after claiming she wants to marry a member of the Huskies team that Bueckers represents.
Neither Bueckers’ attorneys nor the UConn women’s basketball team would comment on the matter.
A Connecticut Superior Court judge said Monday that Parmalee will be under “intense pretrial supervision,” including GPS tracking.
Parmalee is scheduled to appear in Connecticut Superior Court on October 22.
Bueckers was the Big East Player of the Year and a first-team All-American last season as a junior. The guard averaged a career-high 21.9 points per game and helped the Huskies reach the Final Four.