Wrong Kind of Fan Plagues Bono : Fear: Former singer wins a restraining order against a man who both threatens and tries to befriend him. The transient is in a mental hospital.

Sonny Bono remembers back to 1966 when police sharpshooters were posted around the Hollywood Bowl during one of his and Cher’s concerts, in response to a death threat against the singing duo.

Nothing came of it, of course.

Indeed, over the years, Bono has endured fans and critics alike as he went from singer to television entertainer to restaurateur to mayor of Palm Springs and, last year, candidate for U.S. Senate.

But now, after all that, someone has unnerved him.

On Tuesday, Bono and his wife, Mary, appeared in Superior Court here and received a restraining order against a 40-year-old transient--a man they say is nothing short of a stalker who has threatened to kill them.

The source of their concern, identified by authorities as James Hamlin, was committed last week to Patton State Hospital in San Bernardino after a Municipal Court judge found him mentally incompetent to face charges that he set fire to his own motel room last summer.

Hamlin was free on his own recognizance pending the arson trial, but the district attorney’s office sought a psychiatric review of Hamlin after the stalking allegations surfaced, and won the commitment.

Since the Bonos do not know when or if Hamlin will be released, they sought the restraining order so there will be grounds for arrest if Hamlin confronts the family, writes or calls them or otherwise “alarms, harasses and annoys” them.

Bono said Hamlin had been more of a pest than a threat, dating back to when they met in 1986 when Hamlin was parking cars at a local restaurant and introduced himself to Bono.

Since then, Bono says, Hamlin has alternately tried to befriend him at public events and made threats on his life. The most dramatic threat occurred when Hamlin shouted in a restaurant that he had “guns and a bomb” and would kill Bono.

At one point, the local police chief offered Bono a bulletproof vest and issued him a permit to carry a gun.

Neighbors reported seeing Hamlin hiding in the rocky hillside overlooking the Bono estate, and in one of many letters to Bono, Hamlin wrote just last month, “On several occasions in the past, I have been at the right place at the right time, defending your home while you’ve been out of town. On one occasion I caught someone loitering around your mailbox.”

In the letter, Hamlin said he had always been “loyal” to Bono and would “wash and wax your cars for life” in exchange for a financial loan.

Hamlin would incessantly telephone the Bono home or, when Bono was mayor, call him at City Hall. At a street fair last year, Hamlin kept within one pace of Mary Bono and her two children as they walked for several blocks, she said.

Bono said he tried to ignore the incursions because they never turned violent, but when Hamlin showed up at their home earlier this month and tried to attract their 5-year-old son, Chesare, to the security gate, enough was enough. Their other child, 2-year-old daughter Chianna, was in the house at the time.

At the Police Department’s recommendation, he sought the restraining order that now instructs Hamlin to keep 150 yards from the Bonos and not otherwise bother them.

Bono, who is considering running for Congress next year, said he has never had anyone as fixated on him as Hamlin.

“You don’t know what can happen, or when. It’s like being in an ocean, knowing a shark is circling, but you don’t know where he’s at or if he’ll make a move, so you’re always looking over your shoulder.

“He becomes a constant mystery in your life. You don’t function the same. You’re concerned about going to the store, leaving the kids home. It won’t go away. It’s terrorizing.”

Police Capt. Gary Boswell said his officers have had various encounters with Hamlin, and said he supported the Bonos’ request for a restraining order.

Boswell described Hamlin as a “long-term transient” who does handyman work in town. “We’ve had extensive contacts with him, but all for minor stuff. He was never considered a serious violence threat to anybody, but when he most recently went to the Bono residence, that took the matter to the next level of concern.”