Joplin man charged with felony harassment, allegedly planted tracker in ex-girlfriend's car

An arrest warrant was issued today for a Joplin man who allegedly stalked his ex-girlfriend, a Carthage woman, to the point of planting a tracker in her vehicle and smashing her car windows while it was in the Lafayette House parking lot.

Bond was set at $15,000 cash or surety with a stipulation that Michael Anthony Prall, 37, is not to have any contact with the alleged victim.

From the probable cause statement:

 On 8/4/2025, I Officer Hettinger responded to the Carthage Crisis Center for a reporting of a female being stalked by her ex-boyfriend. 

 When I arrived I spoke with the director of the center who led me down the hall where I met with Victim 1. I sat in the office with Victim I and asked her to tell about what was going on. Victim I told me that she was staying at the crisis center because she had nowhere else to go. 

Victim I said her ex-boyfriend Michael Prall had been stalking her. Victim I told me that in the past week, Prall has called the crisis center twice and was pretending to be Victim 1 's father. 

Victim I believes Prall is trying to locate her and contact her. {She} said that there has been a long history of domestic violence and stalking since October of 2022. {She} said that she believes Prall has been tracking her with a hidden tracking device in her vehicle. 

Victim I said every time she moves or starts her car she hears a beeping noise in her trunk area. I asked Victim I for consent to look through her vehicle and she allowed me to. 

When searching the rear trunk compartment of the vehicle, I located a white Apple air tag hidden beneath the carpet. I removed the air tag and it began vibrating and beeping. {She} that it was the same beeping she had heard before. The air tag was hidden beneath the carpet lining on the left side of the trunk compartment where it would be undetected. 

After discovering the air tag in the trunk, I had Victim to give me more details on how long she thought she was being tracked. Victim said the beeping had began in January of 2025, she thought it was just part of her car. 

Victim I told me that her and Prall had gotten back together in January of 2025, she believes this is when he hid the tracker in her trunk. Victim I said during the time between January 2025 and July 2025, Prall had become more physically abusive and controlling. 

Victim I said Prall would question her daily on who she was talking to, where she had been, what she was doing places. Victim I also said that Prall would get very angry with her when she did not tell him every detail of where she had been.  

Victim I told me of one incident that occurred when she was staying at Lafayette House in Joplin MO. Victim I said Prall broke the passenger front window out of her car while it was parked in the Lafayette House parking lot. 

{She} said 2 weeks later Prall busted the entire windshield out of her car in Joplin as well. Victim I never told Prall where she was staying during this time, Victim I said Prall should not have been able to locate her. This is when Victim I suspected there may be a tracker in her car.

The case was investigated by the Carthage Police Department.