Brooksville man charged in Pasco stalking case

BROOKSVILLE He was legally prohibited from contacting his ex-wife.

The lone exception was that he could message her about their child, but if he called, texted or emailed her for other reasons, he was violating the domestic injunction filed against him, according to the Pasco Sheriff’s Office.

Authorities said during a four-week period in late 2011, Russell Vilardi Jr. sent “hundreds if not thousands of text messages” to his ex, a Pasco deputy wrote in his report.

The excessive number of texts and phone calls led to Vilardi being charged with aggravated stalking, a third-degree felony that carries a maximum of five years in prison, authorities said.

Vilardi, who lives in Brooksville, was arrested on his Pasco warrant Monday afternoon while attending a hearing at the Hernando County courthouse.

“Obviously, the female victim in this case had every right to be concerned,” said Doug Tobin, a sheriff’s spokesman.

Vilardi’s ex-wife spoke to Pasco authorities in mid-December after they showed up at her home for a wellness check called in by the suspect, according to arrest records.

The accuser, who lives in New Port Richey, informed deputies about the injunction and told them she was afraid Russell would kill her and kidnap her son because he has promised to do so in the past, authorities said.

That same day Vilardi had called her twice at work and texted her numerous times, according to the sheriff’s office.

One of the deputies said he scrolled through the text messages on her phone and discovered a high number sent by her ex-husband.

A forensics investigator processed the phone and detectives concluded Vilardi was in extreme violation of the domestic injunction, according to arrest reports.

It was his third reported violation, deputies said.

The accuser filled out paperwork alleging Vilardi has had a history of threatening her with a weapon and threatening to kill her.

Vilardi was released on $10,000 bail shortly after his arrest, according to the sheriff’s office.

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