Clive man allegedly violates protective order, calls ‘mom’ from jail

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Willard Keith Rathjen III, 35, of Clive was arrested April 16 on charges of interference with official acts and violation of a no-contact order.

A Clive man allegedly violated a protective order after repeatedly contacted the protected party by phone, text and email, including calling her “mom” in a jailhouse phone call.

Willard Keith Rathjen III, 35, of 3572 Berkshire Parkway, Clive, was charged with interference with official acts and violation of a no-contact order.

The incident began about 2:15 p.m. on April 16, when Rathjen was served a temporary protective order by a Dallas County Deputy Sheriff at his residence in Clive.

According to court records, Rathjen “refused to open the door and was uncooperative” with the deputy serving the court order. Rathjen said he “was unwilling to ‘accept’ the papers due to his belief that he had 72 hours to review them ‘according to CDC guidelines.'”

Having identified Rathjen through the window, the deputy left the temporary protective order at Rathjen’s door. According to court records, “Immediately following service of the protective order,” Rathjen “contacted the protected party via email.”

According to court records, the email, sent from Rathjen’s email address, included an “ultimatum” in which Rathjen claimed the protected party “has 10 minutes before he is done and ‘has to take everything with him.'”

The deputy made contact again with Rathjen and warned that “further attempts to contact the protected party” would lead to his arrest for violation of the order.

The protected party told law enforcement that she believed Rathjen “was still attempting to contact her via restricted phone number” and “messaged her again via email to answer her phone.”

According to court records, the deputy again make contact with Rathjen at his residence, and Rathjen “was very uncooperative,” including “shouting obscenities” when advised he was being charged with the violation of the protection order.

Rathjen was eventually “taken into custody without further incident,” but at the Dallas County Jail he again grew “uncooperative” and demanded access to a telephone.

Once booked into the jail, Rathjen contacted by telephone “a female he kept referring to as ‘Mom,'” according to court records, and during the call “he asked ‘Mom’ to provide him bond.”

The protected party shortly afterward confirmed to law enforcement that Rathjen contacted her and referred to her as “Mom” during the phone call and asked her to provide bond. Deputies advised the protected party not to accept calls from the jail and explained that the protection order stated that she is also not to have contact with Rathjen.

Rathjen was held in the Dallas County Jail prior to his release on a $500 cash or surety bond. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing May 29 in Dallas County District Court.

Rathjen was arrested on a charge of interference with official acts in 2012 in Polk County but the charge was later dismissed in Polk County District Court.

*A criminal charge is merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

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