Booking photo for Mark D. Phipps (Courtesy: Cache County Jail)
LOGAN — A 58-year-old Wellsville man previously arrested for allegedly stalking his estranged wife is behind bars again, suspected of harassing the alleged victim after he was previously released. Mark D. Phipps is being held without bail after prosecutors called him a threat to the public.
Phipps was arrested and booked again into the Cache County Jail on June 16. He was alleged to have violated a protective order after posting $7,500 bail.
Phipps was arraigned again in 1st District Court Tuesday morning, appearing by web conference from jail during a virtual hearing. He was charged with six counts of violating a protective order, a third-degree felony. He already faces counts of stalking, a second-degree felony; and, distribution of an intimate image, a class A misdemeanor.
Cache County Chief Deputy Attorney Spencer Walsh claimed Phipps continued to stalk the alleged victim, even though a judge had previously ordered him to have no contact with her. The incidents allegedly occurred six times between May 31 and June 15.
Walsh asked the court to hold Phipps in jail. He claimed the suspect was a danger to the community.
Phipps asked the court to be released again, claiming he needed to work and take care of his aging mother. He said he would be willing to wear an ankle monitor and comply with any court orders.
Judge Edwin T. Peterson, who is temporarily filling in for the retired Judge Thomas Willmore, expressed concern for releasing Phipps again since the new charges allegedly occurred after bail was granted previously. He ordered the suspect to be held and appear again in court June 30.
According to the original warrant affidavit, the alleged victim claimed Phipps would follow her as she would drive to her Ogden workplace. He would also call her and make comments that he was spying on her during her lunch break.
Deputies claim Phipps sent a photograph of the woman, partially naked from the waist down, to a family member. He also threatened to send other nude pictures to others in the woman’s family.
Court records show, Phipps has faced multiple stalking charges previously. He has also had multiple protective orders filed against him.
will@cvradio.com