Man charged with stalking and harassment after arrest near Taylor Swift’s New York home
A man has been charged with harassment and stalking after complaints were made about an “emotionally disturbed male acting erratically” near Taylor Swift’s home in New York.
David Crowe, 33, from Seattle, Washington, was arrested on Monday evening (22 January) near the pop star’s townhouse and taken into custody, where he was charged.
A spokesperson for the New York Police Department (NYPD) said: “Officers were approached by multiple complainants who pointed out an emotionally disturbed male acting erratically at the location.
“Once officers observed the male harassing multiple complainants, they took him to custody without further incidents. No injuries were reported.”
Crowe was charged with two counts of harassment and two counts of stalking.
Just days before Crowe was charged, police arrested a man on the same street after Swift’s home appeared to be the target of an attempted break-in.
Officers were not able to confirm whether the suspect of that arrest was linked to the harassment and stalking case.
At the time, the Midnights artist, 34, had travelled to cheer on her boyfriend, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, as he helped his team win against the Buffalo Bills in an NFL playoff game at the Highmark Stadium in Buffalo.
The Independent has contacted Swift’s representatives for comment.
The 12-time Grammy winner has a fervent fanbase. She has been the target of several stalkers over the years at her properties in New York, California and Rhode Island.
In 2018, Frank Andrew Hoover was sentenced to 10 years probation, two years after being arrested for violating a restraining order Swift had taken out against him after he allegedly stalked her after a concert in October 2016.
A 26-year-old man was charged with trespassing after breaking into Swift’s beach-front mansion in Rhode Island, in 2019. It was Westerly police department’s third arrest in the space of a few months related to unauthorised men seeking access to the property.
In 2019, a man who served jail time for breaking into her Manhattan townhouse was arrested for doing it again.
Roger Alvarado, 23, of Homestead, Florida, had allegedly “ransacked” the place after climbing a ladder to a second-floor patio and smashing a glass door to get inside.
He was sentenced to two to four years in prison in April that year after pleading guilty to violating his probation.
A federal judge sentenced Eric Swarbrick to 30 months in prison in 2020, after he pleaded guilty to stalking Swift, as well as to sending threatening letters and emails to her former record label, Big Machine Label Group.
Swarbrick also expressed his desire to rape and kill Swift and said he would kill himself in front of her label’s CEO and staff.
In 2021, an alleged stalker who claimed that Swift was communicating with him on social media was arrested for trespassing after trying to break into her Manhattan apartment.
In 2022, alleged stalker Joshua Christian was arrested and charged with stalking and criminal trespass by the NYPD after several run-ins with Swift and her security team. A judge issued a full order of protection for him to stay away from Swift.
In a 2019 essay for Elle magazine, Swift wrote about her experiences of being stalked and harassed, revealing that she carried army-grade bandage dressing for gunshot or stab wounds.
“Websites and tabloids have taken it upon themselves to post every home address I’ve ever had online,” she said. “You get enough stalkers trying to break into your house and you [start] prepping for bad things.”
Additional reporting by Press Association