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‘Imma get him I promise.’ Ex-NC State football player charged with threatening Doeren

Joseph Issac Boletepeli
Joseph Issac Boletepeli

A former N.C. State University football player has been charged with stalking and threatening Wolfpack Coach Dave Doeren, sending messages that included “Imma get him I promise.”

Arrest warrants show that campus police charged Joseph Isaac Boletepeli, 22, of Raleigh, with two counts of misdemeanor stalking and communicating threats. Wake County court records show he was released on a $25,000 bond on orders to stay clear of the N.C. State campus and his former coach.

Boletepeli threatened physical harm in his November tweet, which he directed at “Dave Doeren and the rest,” warrants said.

Court records also describe the former NCSU defender sending harassing text messages and showing up at Doeren’s office in a way that “would cause a reasonable person to suffer substantial emotional distress by placing that person in fear of death, bodily injury ... or the safety of the person’s immediate family.”

N.C. State officials said no one from the school would be commenting on the incident, and referred all inquiries to the Wake County Sheriff’s office.

N.C. State head coach Dave Doeren at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, N.C., Saturday, Nov. 12, 2022.
N.C. State head coach Dave Doeren at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, N.C., Saturday, Nov. 12, 2022. Ethan Hyman ehyman@newsobserver.com

Boletepeli played high school football at Millbrook High School in Raleigh and at Heritage High School in Wake Forest. Recruited to play at N.C. State by Doeren and his staff, Boletepeli was a member of the school’s 2018 recruiting class.

He played in six games for the Wolfpack over two seasons.

In 2020, after originally announcing he was going to transfer to West Virginia, the 6-4, 262-pound defensive end changed his mind and transferred to Maryland of the Big Ten.

In May 2022, after playing parts of the 2020 season and sitting out the 2021 campaign, Boletepeli again announced his intent to transfer. Over four seasons, he played in 10 games, recording 21 total tackles and 1.5 sacks.

A 2019 photo shows N.C. State’s Joseph Boletepeli (99) in action against ECU.
A 2019 photo shows N.C. State’s Joseph Boletepeli (99) in action against ECU. Ethan Hyman ehyman@newsobserver.com

This story was originally published November 18, 2022 at 11:03 AM.

Josh Shaffer
The News & Observer
Josh Shaffer is a general assignment reporter on the watch for “talkers,” which are stories you might discuss around a water cooler. He has worked for The News & Observer since 2004 and writes a column about unusual people and places.
Virginia Bridges
The News & Observer
Virginia Bridges covers what is and isn’t working in North Carolina’s criminal justice system for The News & Observer’s and The Charlotte Observer’s investigation team. She has worked for newspapers for more than 20 years. The N.C. State Bar Association awarded her the Media & Law Award for Best Series in 2018, 2020 and 2025.
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