Part-Time Transport Deputy Arrested on Stalking Charges

A part-time Volusia Sheriff’s deputy was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly stalking his former domestic partner with an Apple AirTag. 65-year-old James Kleeman was suspended without pay that same day, and fired on Thursday. He was first hired in 2012. According to a statement on Kleeman’s arrest by the Volusia Sheriff’s Office, the prisoner transport deputy was in a relationship with the victim for three years. Their relationship ended last month. Kleeman is accused of placing AirTags in both his ex’s vehicle and her daughter’s vehicle as far back as when they first discovered it last year. In February the victim reportedly found yet another AirTag in her vehicle. The AirTag, sold by Apple, allows owners to remotely track the location of a purse, suitcase, or other personal object where the tag is placed. Further review of the victim’s Ring doorbell footage is said to have shown Kleeman crawling underneath her daughter’s car and coming to her home multiple times since their separation. The VSO said that while the victim was giving her statement to detectives in DeLand, Kleeman arrived on-scene and parked behind her vehicle. Detectives later searched both the victim’s vehicle and her daughter’s, and found AirTags on both. Kleeman reportedly admitted that he placed the AirTags on the vehicles, but denied that he was following the victim. Kleeman was booked into the Volusia County Branch Jail early Thursday morning on charges of stalking and installing or using tracking devices or applications illegally. He was denied bond, but jail records show he was released later in the day Thursday. Kleeman has no prior booking records in Volusia County prior to this incident.