Retired Officer Ordered To Pay Ex-Girlfriend Said She Was Harassed Since ‘97; Judge Orders $60,000 Payment In Civil Case

A retired Spokane police officer thumbed his nose at the courts despite being arrested and convicted for violating orders to stay away from his ex-girlfriend for the past three years, a Superior Court judge said Tuesday.

Judge Kathleen O’Connor ordered Joseph Bokor to pay Judy Kloepfel $60,000 in damages for his “extreme” and “outrageous” behavior.

“He has consistently, intentionally and persistently ignored every single (court) order,” O’Connor said. “He has not diminished his behavior toward her.”

Kloepfel and other witnesses testified during a two-day trial that Bokor had stalked and harassed her since she broke off their relationship in 1997.

Bokor, 59, retired from the Spokane Police Department in 1984. Court papers say Bokor took a medical retirement for injuries suffered on the job. He served 18 years on the force.

Kloepfel filed a civil complaint a year ago seeking relief.

In his closing argument Tuesday, Bokor attorney Stanley Perdue wondered why Kloepfel never saw a doctor if the trauma Bokor inflicted on her was so severe.

“Yes, it (Bokor’s behavior) was inappropriate,” Perdue said. “But it was not containing the malice to justify an award to the plaintiff.”

O’Connor disagreed. She called Bokor “delusional.”

“I’m very happy with the outcome,” Kloepfel said. “I’m just glad it’s over. I just want to get on with my life. Hopefully he’ll decide to get on with his.”

Kloepfel’s attorney, Charles Conrad, had more pointed comments.

“We’ll take his little red Ford Probe, cell phone … everything. Let’s see how well he does on the bus,” Conrad said.

Bokor declined comment after the ruling.

Court papers show Bokor pleaded guilty to stalking Kloepfel this year and repeatedly violated court orders issued since 1997 to stay away from her.

Bokor once called Kloepfel the same day he was released from jail after violating a court order, Conrad said.

Kloepfel testified that she and Bokor shared a residence from 1994 to 1997. The two met in 1986. After she moved out, however, Bokor started calling her routinely. The calls became more threatening, and he began to follow her.

Kloepfel said she became so afraid of Bokor that she now sleeps with a stun gun nearby.

Another man, who once dated Kloepfel not long after she broke up with Bokor, testified Monday that he stopped seeing Kloepfel after Bokor telephoned the man and threatened to kill him for dating her.

O’Connor said Bokor displayed “sheer arrogance” in his repeated attempts to “get her back.”