TUCSON, Ariz. – A University of Arizona student has been terrorized by a stalking suspect who continued to threaten her despite a court-ordered injunction against harassment. Caleb Alfred Tifft, 29, of Tucson, was arrested on May 8, 2024, on a federal indictment warrant by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Southern Arizona Violent Crime and Gang Task Force on charges of Cyberstalking and Transmitting Interstate Threats.
The harassment began on February 7, 2024, when Tifft sent a threatening message to the student via Facebook Messenger, stating “Think I’ll just go rape and kill a girl at this point. I give up. I’m the bad guy.” The next day, Tifft was served with an Injunction Against Harassment, which prohibited contact with the victim. He was also served with a 12-month Exclusionary Order from all University of Arizona properties.
Tifft continued to cyberstalk the victim, making an anonymous 911 call to the Pima County Sheriff’s Department on March 1, 2024, claiming that a friend had sent him a message about committing a mass shooting at the University of Arizona. However, the call was disconnected before it was transferred to the University of Arizona Police Department. UAPD later received another call from a Tucson Police Department dispatcher, who transferred a 911 caller identified as Tifft. He claimed that a friend of his “sent some threatening messages about wanting to commit a mass shooting” and confirmed the victim was at the University of Arizona building. The call was then disconnected.
A UAPD officer familiar with Tifft from previous interactions listened to the recorded call and determined the voice matched Tifft’s. The telephone number associated with the call was the same number used to contact the PCSD. Tifft turned himself in to the FBI on an indictment warrant.
A conviction for Cyberstalking and Transmitting Interstate Threats carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, a fine of $250,000, or both, and a maximum term of three years of supervised release. An indictment is simply a method by which a person is charged with criminal activity and raises no inference of guilt. An individual is presumed innocent until evidence is presented to a jury that establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the University of Arizona Police Department, as part of the FBI’s Southern Arizona Violent Crime and Gang Task Force, conducted the investigation in this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Rossi, District of Arizona, Tucson, is handling the prosecution.
Tifft’s case number is CR-24-02373-TUC-SHR. For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/az/. Follow the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, on X at @USAO_AZ for the latest news.
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Key Facts
- State: Arizona
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Violent Crime
- Source: Official Source ↗
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