Lehigh Acres man accused of stalking, tracking victim

LEHIGH ACRES, Fla. —

A Lehigh Acres man was arrested Tuesday morning after he was accused of stalking and tracking a victim.

According to the Lee County Sheriff's Office's arrest report, Esequiel J. Morales Riveron, 34, was accused of placing a Black box tracker under the rear bumper of the victim's vehicle, a 2012 Kia Soul, and stalking them.

Deputies said they received a complaint regarding a tracking device Monday as the victim parked their vehicle next to the 2nd precinct on Homestead Road. The victim also said that they had filed an injunction for protection against Morales Riveron and had received an email confirming its approval.

The victim accused Morales Riveron of sending photos of the vehicle where they had parked it. The report states that a deputy did find the tracker magnetically attached to the Kia Soul.

The sheriff's office said that while the investigation was taking place, Morales Riveron showed up to the scene. He provided deputies a temporary driver's license, but it was reportedly expired since March 15, 2024, and he was detained.

LCSO confirmed the injunction was filed and approved, but it had not been served to Morales Riveron.

According to the report, the victim told deputies that on March 2, around 10:45 p.m., at a Dollar General on East 5th Street, Morales Riveron reportedly showed up. The victim accused him of pulling a gun, racking one in the chamber, pointing it at them while holding their neck, and saying, "I will end you and, I will get (redacted) back."

Deputies reviewed video from the Dollar General, but there was no footage of what the victim reported.

The victim met with deputies and accused Morales Riveron of harassing them as well as tracking their location. The sheriff's office said the victim found a tracker on their vehicle and mentioned the Dollar General incident. However, the report states that the victim was unsure of certain details and didn't call law enforcement because they thought it would be over.

According to LCSO, the victim showed deputies text messages reportedly from Morales Riveron asking where they were and a picture of the vehicle. More than 50 messages had been sent since 2 p.m., but deputies said they were not threatening by nature.

When deputies searched the truck, they reportedly found two cell phones that were Morales Riveron's; one of them was mounted to the dashboard, and it had a tracking app, according to the report.

Morales Riveron was arrested and is facing charges of installing/using a tracking device without consent and stalking. He was taken to the Lee County Jail.

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