TEMECULA: Wanted for stalking & peeping, transient arrested after reports of annoying school children

TEMECULA — A man wanted in connection with an ongoing stalking and “peeping” investigation was arrested after deputies responded to reports of a possible child annoyance outside a Temecula middle school, Friday, May 11.

After an investigation, deputies arrested 26-year-old, Adam Paul Baumgartel. According to officials, Baumgartel is a “local Temecula transient.”

However, according to friends and family, Baumgartel grew up in Temecula – attending Great Oak High School – before joining the Marines and later returning to Temecula.

One friend, who requested to not be identified, said Baumgartel’s life took a turn for the worse a few months ago, after returning home from active duty.

That friend says what Baumgartel needs is help dealing with the emotional difficulties he has experienced since his stint in the Marines, not incarceration.

Baumgartel was booked into Cois Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta on suspicion of stalking and peeping into inhabited dwellings.

Based on the previous investigation Baumgartel remains in custody, held on $1 million bail. He is scheduled to be arraigned at Murrieta’s Southwest Justice Center, May 16.

Deputies assigned to Riverside Sheriff’s Temecula Police Station were called to the area of Erle Stanley Gardner Middle School and Kent Hintergardt Park shortly before 3 p.m., “regarding an adult male harassing children,” Riverside Sheriff’s Sergeant Joseph Greco explained after the incident and arrest.

Deputies arrived shortly thereafter and began searching  the area, but they could not initially find the man near the middle school.

Deputies eventually located and detained Baumgartel about a mile away, on the 32000 Block of Camino San Jose and Wolf Valley Road, near Red Hawk Elementary School and Sunset Park.

Witnesses later positively identified Baumgartel as the man who had been suspected of annoying children at Gardner Middle School.

During their investigation, deputies also determined Baumgartel was also wanted in connection with an ongoing stalking and peeping investigation. He was ultimately arrested and booked based on the earlier investigation.

“Temecula Police are still investigating whether the suspect was involved in a child annoyance,” said Greco.

Anyone with any information regarding this case is encouraged to call the Temecula Police Station at (951) 696-3000. Callers can refer to incident file number TE181310183 and can remain anonymous. Citizens may also submit a tip using the Sheriff’s CrimeTips online form.

 

Contact the writer: [email protected]

 

Trevor Montgomery, 46, recently moved to Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source and Shasta County News Source. Additionally, he writes for several other news organizations, including Riverside County based newspapers, Valley News, The Valley Chronicle and Anza Valley Outlook, as well as Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County and The Mountain Echo in Shasta County.

Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s accident.)

During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations, including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center and Lake Elsinore Station, along with other locations.