SOUTH JORDAN, Utah (ABC 4 News) - Be careful what you write on Facebook because it could land you in jail.
A Sandy man learned this lesson the hard way and he's sharing his story with ABC 4.
Alex Rodriguez watched a video showing police hitting Occupy Wall Street Protesters in California.
He says the video angered him and he turned to his normal outlet on Facebook.
He wrote, "Before I leave this earth I will take ONE police officer off this planet!! I swear to god as my witness for he is understanding. Yes some little boy or girl will lose their father for his actions and decision to become a human violating f***ing Cop!!"
He says he was not serious, but wrote the words to vent.
He told ABC 4, "I apologize for what I posted. I've already written letters and sent them out."
Police found his post and took his threat seriously.
Alex says he was sitting at his cubicle at work when seven West Jordan police officers walked in. They handcuffed and arrested him in front of all his co-workers.
"It was like something out of the movies. Like I was the most wanted fugitive in America," said Rodriguez.
Next, he was booked into jail where he says officers talked with him about his post.
"Then they started calling me, 'Facebook kid'. He said, 'Is there anything you want to say now? Maybe you should post about this,'" said Rodriguez.
Alex was charged with internet stalking.
When he posted bail his boss asked him not to return to work because his arrest was too disruptive.
"I learned my lesson. I was really shaken to the core as far as freedom of speech and freedom of what we really can and can't say," said Rodriguez.
We contacted West Jordan Police Spokesman Drew Sanders 24 hours before this story aired.
He refused to answer the questions listed below.
1) How seriously do officers respond to threats on Facebook?
2) Did seven police officers walk into Concentrix Corporation at 680 West 1000 South in South Jordan to arrest Alex Rodriquez?
3) Alex says an officer grabbed him from behind and pulled him up from his chair so hard his headset fell off his head? Is this true?
4) Can you speak to what Alex said. He claims he has no criminal history or background and therefore he thinks he was treated unfairly when officers came to his workplace to arrest him.
An ABC 4 investigation reveals a female filed a civil stalking injunction against Alex Rodriguez November 30, 2011. She wrote this statement to police, "Alex Rodriguez has been stalking me. I met him at my work about 9 months ago. He was in there quite a bit, we talked a few times and I talked to him over the phone on occasion. He started to text, email and call me non-stop, I would receive 4 voice mails a day and 10-12 page text messages about how he wanted me. I ignored him because he wouldn't stop, he was acting crazy. I don't even know this guy. Finally, I told him he was bothering me and to please leave me alone that he was smothering me. He started calling my boyfriend and other people from my work making false accusations about us. I called him and told him to quit calling me and talking about me. He continued. I changed my phone number and he continued calling my boyfriend. I called him again telling him that I was going to call the police if he didn't stop, he said not until you make things right and be with me. He was parked on the corner of my street two days ago and drove off, he has made threats to come into my work, my boyfriend told him that I felt unsafe. I don't want him around me, my house my work, my car, my boyfriend. He is just crazy and won't leave me alone."
Alex denies the above report. He says the woman who filed this compalint is trying to ruin his reputation.
ABC 4 also contacted University of Utah law professor Wayne McCormack about posting inflammatory comments on Facebook. He says genuine threats are punishable. He says the problem is knowing which threats on Facebook are real and which are false. This all has to do with context. It's often lost when words are written rather than vocalized face to face.
