Collin County serial 'predatory stalker' sentenced to 15 years

PLANO, Texas - A Collin County man was sentenced to 15 years in prison for a series of stalking incidents and attacks on women.

District Attorney Greg Willis called 27-year-old Tyler Wakefield a "predatory stalker."

He pleaded guilty to a robbery charge. But during his sentencing this week, a judge heard testimony from two victims about his escalating violence towards women. 

The Collin County District Attorney's Office is praising the women for having the strength to testify and the detective work on the case. 

Plano woman assaulted and robbed

The backstory:

In July 2022, prosecutors said Wakefield forced a woman into an apartment stairwell as she arrived at the complex to visit a friend. 

He smacked her buttocks and tried to pull her pants down, but he couldn’t because she was wearing a back brace due to a recent back surgery, an arrest warrant affidavit states.

Wakefield ended up running away. But first, he stole the woman’s phone so she couldn’t call 911.

Prosecutors said his arrogance proved to be his downfall.

The victim saw Wakefield return in a black SUV to toss her cellphone out the window. By that point, her friend had come outside and was able to snap a picture of Wakefield’s license plate.

McKinney, Allen, Anna women assaulted and stalked

The backstory:

After the July 2022 assault, Plano police began checking local crime records and conducting surveillance on Wakefield.

The arrest warrant affidavit states they found two cases out of McKinney: one from 2013 and one from a few days after the Plano incident where Wakefield was suspected of "smacking" random women on the buttocks.

Detectives located Wakefield’s black SUV at his mother’s home in Anna. They were watching as he drove off and began following a female jogger in Anna.

The affidavit states Wakefield trailed the lone female until she appeared to realize he was following her. He then drove away.

Police finally intervened on another occasion when they saw Wakefield close in on a woman near an apartment complex in Allen. Police snapped a picture of him sitting in his vehicle, watching her.

 He was taken into custody for questioning and ultimately confessed, prosecutors said.

Tyler Wakefield sentenced to 15 years

What we know:

Judge Kim Laseter heard testimony about all of the Collin County incidents involving women, as well as an additional aggravated assault case where Wakefield was accused of ramming a woman’s car while her child was inside. He allegedly chased her until the police intervened. 

Wakefield faced a punishment of between two and 20 years for the robbery charge. 

The judge gave him 15 years.

What they're saying:

DA Willis says putting Wakefield in prison was critical.

"We are not waiting for predators like him to escalate to something worse. We are stopping them now," he said. "We pursued the strongest charge that we could prove beyond a reasonable doubt under the law. We got some good time on that. We needed something to put him in prison."

Dig deeper:

Wakefield has been to prison before. He has served time for an aggravated assault back in 2017, according to public records. 

PlanoMcKinneyAnnaAllenCrime and Public Safety