A Montgomery County man is accused of placing a GPS device on the car of a woman that he met on an online dating website, stalking her and cutting off her power and internet.
On April 16, 2024, the Bucks County woman reported to Bensalem police that she returned home from a vacation and discovered that someone had turned off all of the circuit breakers in her home and unscrewed the internet connection from the wall, cutting her internet service.
Bensalem police examined the woman’s vehicle and found a magnetized GPS tracking device underneath it, investigators said. A detective then obtained a search warrant and recovered data from the device and its manufacturer. The account associated with the tracker was then traced back to 33-year-old Matthew Bustin of King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, according to investigators. Data from the tracker showed that it began transmitting locations of the woman’s car on April 5, 2024, at her workplace in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.
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The detective then obtained surveillance video from the workplace which showed a man get out of a black Honda Civic, walk toward the woman’s car, lie on the ground, reach underneath the vehicle and then return to his car, investigators said. Police identified the man as Bustin.
The woman had initially told investigators that she met Bustin on a dating website. She said she felt uncomfortable around him after a few meetings due to his odd behavior and ended their relationship, blocking him on social media. The woman said Bustin still continued to text her and show up unexpectedly, however.
A search warrant was obtained for Bustin’s cellphone location data. An analysis of the data showed Bustin was near the woman’s home and workplace at least nine times without her knowledge after she ended their relationship, police said. He also was near the woman’s workplace as he lay next to her vehicle on surveillance video, according to investigators.
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Police also obtained records from PECO which showed that the power to the woman’s home was shut off between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. on April 14 while she was on vacation. Bustin’s phone was at or near the woman’s home around the same time, investigators said.
An arrest warrant was obtained for Bustin who was charged with burglary, criminal trespass, stalking and harassment. He surrendered to Bensalem police on June 1, investigators said. He was then arraigned and remanded to the Bucks County Correctional Facility on 10 percent of $2 million bail.
A second stalking case in the Lehigh Valley
Bustin also allegedly stalked a woman in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, earlier in the year. The woman in that case told investigators Bustin was at her apartment complex in Bethlehem back on Jan. 21, 2024, approached her and asked for her help in jump-starting his car. After the woman helped Bustin, they exchanged phone numbers when he asked her for information on places to live in the area, according to the criminal complaint.
On Feb. 11, 2024, the woman received a package at her apartment from an unknown sender, investigators said. The woman said the package contained Valentine's Day letters and candy that were in the shapes of female genitalia and a buttocks.
On Feb. 19, Bustin allegedly requested to follow the woman on Instagram. He also texted the woman six times between Feb. 11 and March 1 but she never responded to him, according to the criminal complaint. Finally, on March 1, the woman told Bustin she was making it "abundantly clear" that she wasn't interested in speaking with him or dating him, investigators said.
Bustin then once again requested to follow the woman on Instagram on March 2, according to the criminal complaint. Investigators said Bustin then texted the woman multiple times on March 3 while she was watching a movie. He then showed up to her workplace in Easton, Pennsylvania, the next day on March 4, police said.
The woman told investigators she found a bouquet of flowers on the driver side door handle of her car. The woman called police who later found a GPS tracking device under the woman's car, according to the criminal complaint. Investigators said the device was similar to the one Bustin used to stalk the victim in Bucks County.
Bustin was later arrested and charged with stalking in connection to that incident.
Bustin was also charged in a stalking case in 2018, investigators said.
Anyone who may have been victimized by Bustin should contact Detective Connor Farnan at 215-633-3632.
Online court records don’t list any attorney information for Bustin.
