VENTURA COUNTY NEWS : Man Held on Suspicion of Stalking Neighbors : Arrest: Authorities said they have taken reports on the suspect for more than a year, but only recently had enough evidence to seek charges.

A 62-year-old man who authorities say terrorized people in his neighborhood for the past year and a half will be charged with stalking a family and threatening a man with death, authorities said Wednesday.

Jack O’Halloran of Newbury Park, a self-employed financial consultant, is set to be arraigned today on felony counts of making terrorist threats and stalking, said Deputy Dist. Atty. John Vanarelli.

“It’s very weird and very strange and extremely worrisome when people behave this way,” Vanarelli said.

O’Halloran remained in jail Wednesday night on $100,000 bail.

According to authorities, O’Halloran spent the past 18 months following various men, women and children who live near his modest single-story home in the Borchard Park subdivision in Newbury Park.

Deputies said they have known about the problem for more than a year and visited the neighborhood several times to take reports from neighbors, but only recently did they had enough evidence to make an arrest.

He is charged in an Aug. 29 incident in which he allegedly followed home a Newbury Park couple and their children from a pizza parlor.

Among previous complaints, in March 1998, a 16-year-old girl said she was threatened by O’Halloran as he waived a crowbar in her face, authorities said. The girl reported it but later refused to cooperate with deputies investigating the case, they said.

“It went from being misdemeanor behavior in the crowbar incident to him crossing over the line,” said Sheriff’s Det. Robert Thomas. “I think if the right buttons were pushed he may have used that crowbar.”

Detectives believe O’Halloran used his white Jeep Cherokee to follow people he didn’t know around town and to their homes. He always carried along a crowbar, binoculars, a camera and a green legal-size notebook, Thomas said.

O’Halloran would also park and watch people as they went in and out of grocery stores and other businesses, Thomas said. Sometimes, according to detectives, he would confront the people and argue with them.

Authorities said O’Halloran didn’t personally know any of the targets but often followed the same people several times. Residents on his street allege that O’Halloran went out to follow people nightly.

In a search of O’Halloran’s vehicle and house during his arrest Tuesday, deputies said, they found three journals, including a green notebook that contained 70 single-spaced pages of license-plate numbers and vehicle descriptions.

O’Halloran told detectives he was tracking people who were speeding in the neighborhood. He also explained to authorities that he began following people after someone once followed him home shortly after his wife moved out of the couple’s home early last year.

In the incident that led to his arrest, the family involved said it was not the first time O’Halloran had followed them.

“They had been followed by him on a prior incident and they were intimidated by him,” the detective said.

The father, who realized he was being tailed, stopped a few houses away from the family residence so O’Halloran wouldn’t know exactly where they lived, Thomas said.

O’Halloran drove past the family and parked in the middle of the street near the family’s home. He allegedly got out of his Jeep, came to the family’s car and challenged the father to a fistfight, Thomas said.

“Then he said, ‘The next time I see you, you’ll die’ ” and drove off, the detective said.

The family called 911 and filed a report.

During his arrest, detectives found a duffel bag containing various equipment. A roll of film found inside a camera that was seized was being developed Wednesday night by authorities.

“He admitted to this stuff,” Thomas said. “He said he didn’t mean it and he was angry at the time.”

In interviews, O’Halloran told detectives he has a bad temper but said he had attended anger-management classes, Thomas said.

Residents in O’Halloran’s neighborhood described him as an unfriendly recluse who never smiled or spoke a kind word.

O’Halloran told detectives after his arrest that his anger problem drove his wife to move out of the couple’s home, Thomas said.

“He is pretty much a loner,” said Joseph Kirk, a neighbor. “He’s not very friendly. He’s an angry man, and I have no idea why.”

If convicted of the charges, O’Halloran could serve up to three years in prison.