Woman asks coughing man to cover mouth, is stalked for over a decade, police say

Kevin Cringle, 29, has been arrested in a stalking case that allegedly began over a decade ago when the victim, a fellow classmate, allegedly told Cringle to cover his mouth after coughing. Kevin Cringle, 29, has been arrested in a stalking case that allegedly began over a decade ago when the victim, a fellow classmate, allegedly told Cringle to cover his mouth after coughing. Photo: Mountain View Police Photo: Mountain View Police Image 1 of / 15 Caption Close Woman asks coughing man to cover mouth, is stalked for over a decade, police say 1 / 15 Back to Gallery

A Los Altos man has been arrested in a decade-long stalking case that began when the female victim asked the suspect to cover his mouth after coughing. At the time, both were students in high school.

Matthew Cringle, 29, was taken into custody Monday by Mountain View police who were contacted in April by a woman who had received explicit messages on Facebook. The senders of the messages appeared to be fake accounts, which the woman suspected were really Cringle, who, she told police, had harassed her in the past.

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There were "a lot of messages that were coming from many different 'people,' but they were all very similar," police spokeswoman Katie Nelson said. "This poor woman was receiving [the messages] repeatedly over the course of about 12 years. The Mountain View Voice reports that Cringle had been convicted of stalking the same victim several years ago.

An investigation by the Cyber Crimes Unit confirmed that Cringle was behind the derogatory and threatening messages, which he was sending to the victim, her friends and her family.

According to Mountain View police, "Cringle and the victim were in one class together at a local high school. At some point during the school year, Cringle coughed, and the victim asked him to cover his mouth. After that, Cringle appeared to fixate on the victim."

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Cringle, recently a driver for a ride hailing company, is being held without bail at the Santa Clara County Jail. He faces various charges, including felony stalking and stalking under a prohibited restraining order.