A Fruitland Park man spent the weekend in jail after a bitter Facebook feud led to his second arrest in less than two weeks.
Joshua Aaron Winkler, 32, who lives at 509 Edith Drive, was arrested Wednesday morning at his home by Lake County sheriff’s deputies on a charge of violating a no-contact order.
The trouble originally started late last month on Facebook. According to an affidavit of probable cause, a victim—who knew Winkler from high school—reported that Winkler had been sending him a barrage of threatening online messages. Both men were members of a veterans group on the social media platform.
The victim told law enforcement that on May 23, he commented on a Facebook post where Winkler was attacking another person. Three days later, Winkler allegedly turned his hostility toward the victim and initiated a relentless online harassment campaign. The victim said Winkler commented, posted, and sent unwanted messages all week, eventually tagging the victim in more than 30 separate posts on May 27 alone.
The situation quickly escalated into criminal territory when Winkler began making statements threatening to kill or cause bodily injury to the victim, as well as the victim’s family and friends. The victim provided screenshots of the digital threats to law enforcement, resulting in Winkler’s initial arrest on May 28 on a felony charge of making written or electronic threats to kill or do bodily harm.
Following that first arrest, a judge issued a strict injunction prohibiting Winkler from having any contact with the victim.
However, Winkler found himself in handcuffs again on June 10 after violating that court-ordered injunction. He was booked at the Lake County Jail, where he was being held without bond.