Man Steals Cell Phone, Threatens Wife With It, Police Say

Police arrested a Fayetteville man they say stole a woman’s cell phone before using it to threaten his wife.

Brandon Deshun Watson, 20, was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of residential burglary, terroristic threatening and theft of property. He remained in the Washington County Detention Center on Thursday on $9,500 bond from previous charges. No bond has been set for his new set of charges, according to the jail website.

A woman called Fayetteville police in March to report that someone had broken into her home and stolen several electronic items, including her cell phone. The woman began texting her number to see if anyone would answer.

A man responded to her texts and sent a picture of himself to the woman. The woman recognized him as an acquaintance of her boyfriend, according to a preliminary report from the Washington County Prosecutor’s Office.

The woman threatened to call police, and the man left the phone at a nearby business. When the woman retrieved her phone, she found several threatening text messages allegedly sent to Watson’s wife. One such text said, “I’m goin to kill u,” the report states.

Investigators found the woman who received the texts, and she told police she had filed reports against Watson for threats in the past. Watson later admitted to investigators he broke into a home and stole a jacket because the man who lived there owed him money, according to the preliminary report. Watson did not admit to taking the cell phone.

Watson was already in jail facing drug, alcohol and battery charges stemming from unrelated events.