Oswald Bruggemans charged with stalking a Whyalla police officer and making threats

A man with a grudge about his arrest allegedly stalked a police officer, taking photos of him and telling his son there was a bounty on his dad’s head.

A man who wrongly believed a police officer was “corrupt” allegedly stalked him and told his son there was a bounty on his dad’s head, a court heard.

Oswald Bruggemans, 65, applied for bail by video link in the Adelaide Magistrates Court on Thursday, after his vengeance for his arrest several years ago allegedly escalated.

A police prosecutor opposed the bail application, saying they had concerns for the safety of the alleged victim.

“The alleged victim is a serving police officer and it stems back to an incident back in 2011 where this officer arrested Mr Bruggemans in relation to other offences,” the police prosecutor said.

The court heard Bruggemans allegedly attended the police station multiple times and stated that the officer was a “corrupt cop”.

“He believes that officer caused him to lose a lot of his possessions,” the police prosecutor said.

The court heard Bruggemans had been convicted of the offences from 2011 and been sentenced to a good-behaviour bond.

Oswald Bruggemans was denied bail in the Adelaide Magistrates Court on Thursday, charged with stalking and threats to cause harm to police. Photo: Facebook

“He’s done such things as taking photos of this officer when he was off duty with his wife and placing that on Facebook and posting negative comments,” the police prosecutor said.

The court was told the alleged victim’s son was picking up a phone charger from Bruggemans’ house on February 15, as he was friends with Bruggemans’ son.

Bruggemans allegedly followed him back to his house and called out to him when he got out of his car.

The officer’s son was not aware of who Bruggemans’ was.

“He asked if he knew that his dad was a corrupt cop,” the police prosecutor said.

“He started talking about knowing that his dad worked in Whyalla and he knew people in jail that would love to know where he was.

“He mentioned something about there being a bounty on his father’s head.”

The court heard the alleged victim’s daughter and wife came outside and asked Bruggemans to leave.

Bruggemans allegedly filmed them and their address before driving away.

He was arrested the following day, and searches of his phone allegedly revealed videos of the alleged victim’s lounge and dining room taken three weeks before.

Bruggemans, of Encounter Bay, is charged with stalking and threats to cause harm to police. He is yet to enter any pleas.

Wayne Carlin, for Bruggemans, told the court Bruggemans had been in custody for over two months now.

The court heard Bruggemans was married with four children.

“There’s no suggestion that he entered the property, there’s no suggestion that he made threats to his wife or his children,” Mr Carlin said.

“He vented his frustration to his wife and made regretful comments to his children.”

Mr Carlin said the risk to the alleged victim would be low if Bruggemans was released on bail.

Chief Magistrate Mary-Louise Hribal denied Bruggemans bail. The charges were adjourned until June.