Loxley, Alabama cop stopped Shawn Johnson's stalker, let him go on to LA

[BirminghamExaminer]

Excerpt:

A Loxley, Alabama police officer stopped Robert O'Ryan, 34, of Florida after seeing the man driving erratically. The police officer ticketed O'Ryan who told the officer he was traveling to California to meet Olympic gold medalist, Shawn Johnson.

Shawn Johnson has been a contestant on "Dancing with the Stars" which is being filmed in Los Angeles.

"I'm meeting her there. I've been communicating with her. And uh, basically I'm going to try to get her to marry me."

O'Ryan admitted to the Loxley officer that he had only spoken to Johnson in his dreams. O'Ryan said, "I know it sounds a little bit crazy, but my intuition tells me we're going to have a beautiful relationship together."

In the video from the police car dashboard, it sounds like the officer asks O'Ryan, "Where you going with all this stuff?"

(video)

O'Ryan had a shotgun, a hand gun, duct tape and love letters when he made it to California five days after his traffic stop in Alabama. He was arrested in Los Angeles after Studio security detained him when he jumped a fence trying to gain entry into the lot where "Dancing With the Stars" is taped.

For entire article and video, go here.

[proud patriot]

1. Thank goodness he was eventually apprehended

My family just loves that gold medalist .

My husband comes from Iowa too.

[Wetzelbill]

2. wow, that is scary

[murielm99]

3. I'm not sure what the cop could have done.

Unfortunately, stalking laws vary from state to state. Some states have not addressed the problem at all. In most cases, restraining orders are not worth the time and trouble or the paper they on which they are written. They can make things worse.

Illinois seems to have good laws. But they came about only after a tragic murder of a young woman. I can't remember all the details.

For a good overview of stalking, read "I Know You Really Love Me," by Doreen Orion. She is a psychologist who was stalked by a patient for eight years.

[BirminghamExaminer]

4. Not sure he could have done anything, but...

he did seem to ask on the video where the guy was going with 'all this stuff' so he must have been at least somewhat suspicious.

I'm thinking that had he recognized Shawn Johnson's name, he might have alerted her or her family about it.

I guess he couldn't do anything about it since Alabama probably (I'm not sure about this) has very few gun restrictions so if a cop stops you and sees you have guns in your car and duct tape he probably can't do a thing. But I don't really know about that.

[BirminghamExaminer]

5. Did you watch the video? n/t

[jody]

6. Looks like the police officer in Loxley, population 1,348, did the correct thing. It's easy for

people from big cities with several hundred thousand people to second guess LEO in small communities.