Hailie Deegan said in a video posted Monday that she skipped an event in Florida this past weekend because an obsessed fan allegedly threatened to kill her boyfriend, Chase Cabre.
Deegan and Cabre detailed the threats received in a 15-minute video titled: “Our Lives Are Being Threatened....”
The video with Deegan and Cabre included an altered audio recording threatening Cabre that they said came from the individual. The videoincluded threatening messages they said were sent by the same person to Cabre.
Deegan also said that the person sent an eight-page handwritten letter to David Gilliland Racing, the Camping World Truck Series team Deegan drives for this season, “stating that he was dating me and in a relationship with me for multiple, multiple months and how he was just like in love with me and infatuated with me and I was his soul mate, and it kind of scared me a little bit.”
The couple said the person was caught in a catfishing scheme by a fake Deegan account on social media.
“This account went to the effect of saying, oh it’s all a fake relationship, it’s just straight business relationship, he pretty much makes me do everything, practically being held hostage and he beats me, physically abuses me, and none of that is true,” Deegan said in the video.
“It makes them feel a lot of anger toward Chase, which if the situation was real would be understandable, but it is not. So this guy ends up getting wrapped in this whole deal believing Chase beats me.
“I wouldn’t really be worried about this if the fact wasn’t this person, this guy lives near my race shop, near where I live, my home, and it makes me uncomfortable, it makes me scared. You shouldn’t be scared in your own house.
“ … I would keep kind of and eye on his posts because of the stalker situations I’ve dealt with in the past. The day that it pretty much changed was a few days ago when he posted stuff saying he was practically going to come kill Chase. His exact words were not going to kill Chase, but he’s going to come and he is going to be the last thing Chase ever sees.”
Deegan and Cabre notified the police and said an officer had been stationed outside their home overnight. They also said they’ve had conversations with the FBI and NASCAR security about the matter.
Deegan said she became aware of the individual’s social media postings in December. Cabre, Deegan and Deegan’s father, famed motocross racer Brian Deegan, have all tried to tell the individual there is no truth about what the fake account is stating to him to no avail.
Deegan will compete in Thursday night’s Camping World Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway. A NASCAR spokesperson told NBC News: “We have measures in place to increase her safety on and off the track.”