A Monmouth County man is being held in jail pending his trial on stalking, burglary and cyber harassment charges lodged in June, Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni announced.

The ruling comes after 25-year-old Wayde M. Delhagen, of Wayside Road in Neptune Township, was arrested and charged following a series of events that began after he allegedly harassed women through social media, ultimately breaking into the Neptune Township home of two of his female victims, the prosecutor said.  

Delhagen has been charged with: third-degree burglary, fourth-degree theft by unlawful taking, fourth-degree criminal mischief, and related charges of fourth-degree stalking and fourth-degree cyber-harassment. 

The case background …

The arrest of Delhagen comes after Neptune Township Police responded to a 3 a.m. 911 call on June 15 reporting a possible burglary at a home in the 700 block of Wayside Road.

Upon arrival, officers spoke to the 18-year-old female victim and her mother, who told police that someone had broken into the girl’s bedroom through a window, while mother and daughter were asleep in another part of the residence.

The victim indicated that she had been having trouble with a man she met via social media. While continuing their investigation, during a search of the surrounding area, police officers found Delhagen in front of a nearby home. He was found in possession of a bathing suit top and a bra belonging to the victim and taken from a laundry basket under the window of her bedroom. 

At that time, Delhagen was charged with burglary, theft and criminal mischief. He was released on a summons in accordance with the recommendation from Delhagen’s public safety assessment.  

The Neptune Township police continued its investigation, and learned the victim had previously come into contact with Delhagen last year via social media. That contact morphed into harassment after the victim rejected Delhagen’s efforts to set up a meeting for the two, forcing the victim to cut off any communication between them.

In May of 2019, Delhagen contacted the victim using a different social media platform, stating he was coming over to the victim’s house and inquiring if the victim’s mother was home. He then sent her disturbing images, including a Google Maps image of the victim’s residence. After he was again rejected by the victim, Delhagen sent a harassing message to the girl’s mother.  Neptune Township Police charged him with stalking and cyber-harassment, and he was taken to the Monmouth County Correctional Institution. 

Delhagen is also charged, out of Neptune City, with two counts of fourth-degree cyber-harassment, as part of an ongoing investigation into harassing messages sent via social media and his cell phone to a separate set of victims. In that case, Delhagen is accused of using social media accounts to repeatedly send threatening messages and sexually explicit materials to another young female victim and her mother. Those threatening messages also included references to the Sarah Stern homicide.  

If convicted of burglary, Delhagen faces a sentence of three to five years in prison. If convicted of the fourth degree offenses, he faces up to 18 months in state prison on each count.

Despite this arrest, law enforcement authorities continue to seek names of other potential victims that may have been contacted by Delhagen on social media.

Anyone with additional information about this case is asked to contact Detective James Van Etten of the Neptune City Police Department at (732) 455-0117, or Detective Erick Amadruto of the Neptune Twp. Police Department at 732-988-8000 ext. 419.