A man has been charged with stalking Taylor Swift after neighbors saw an ’emotionally disturbed male’ skulking around the singer’s Tribeca apartment while holding flowers.
David Crowe, 33, from Seattle, was arrested on Monday after police were told he was ‘acting erratically’ outside her $20million apartment on Franklin Street – three days after he was detained for trying to break into the building.
One neighbor told The New York Post that the man had been seen regularly outside the building since Christmas – sitting on the doorstep, chain-smoking, and telling people he was there to see Swift. He even had flowers for her at one point.
On Monday, he was arrested outside her home, wearing tan pants, a cream hoodie and a navy overcoat at around 6pm. He was arrested three days earlier on Saturday for trying to break into the apartment building while wearing the same clothes.
Crowe has now been charged with two counts each of harassment and stalking, NYPD said.
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.’
At the time, Swift was away in Buffalo, New York – supporting her boyfriend Travis Kelce as his team the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Buffalo Bills in an NFL play-off game.
A man named by police as ‘David’ is pictured on Monday being arrested outside Taylor Swift’s home in Manhattan
‘David’ is seen on Monday being put into a police patrol car outside Swift’s TriBeCa residence
Taylor Swift was most recently seen in New York City on Thursday, amid claims that her boyfriend Travis Kelce has plans to propose in the near future. On Sunday night, she was watching him play in Buffalo, New York
Three days earlier, on Saturday, Crowe was pictured peering into Swift’s lobby of her apartment building before ending up in cuffs.
The NYPD told DailyMail.com Crowe was taken into custody on Saturday on an active warrant for failing to answer summons from 2017. It is not known where Swift was at the time of this particular incident.
It is not the first time the 12-time Grammy winner has caught the eye of over-eager fans, with a string of stalkers in her history leading her sold-out ‘Eras’ megatour to install facial recognition software to identify certain men from her past.
The NYPD said they were reporting to a call of a ‘disorderly person’, however a witness told Page Six that the man was ‘pretty civil’ throughout the incident.
‘I first saw him around 1pm, he went up to Taylor’s door,’ the eyewitness said.
‘I’m not sure if he knocked or rang the doorbell… it was all pretty civil. He didn’t resist. There was no yelling or anything.’
The star was last spotted in New York City on Thursday, where she stepped out for a recording session at Electric Lady Studios.
The multi-Grammy Award-winner, 34, bundled up in a black coat over a gray hooded shirt dress, and completed her low-key look with black leather shoes and a stylish suede Manu Atelier handbag.
She is expected to stay in New York through the weekend, to watch boyfriend Travis Kelce’s NFL game against the Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium upstate.
Swift’s home in Manhattan’s TriBeCa neighborhood has become a common meeting place for her most fervent fans, often camping out in hopes of catching a glimpse of their favorite artist.
But her megastar status has also attracted its fair share of unsavory supporters.
‘David’ is pictured on Saturday, being arrested trying to break into Taylor Swift’s Manhattan apartment
He was seen peering into Swift’s TriBeCa apartment building on Saturday morning
Wearing tan pants, a cream hoodie and navy overcoat, it doesn’t appear the man put up any resistance as he was taken into custody on Saturday
The shaggy-haired man was referred to as ‘David’ by police on the scene on Saturday
The man ended up in cuffs on Saturday after lingering on the streets of Manhattan. He was arrested again on Sunday at the same spot
On Friday, a man in a similar outfit to ‘David’ was also seen lingering outside Swift’s apartment.
Despite a snowstorm gripping New York City at the time, the weather did little to deter the man in tan pants and a navy overcoat, who was seen being spoken to by an NYPD vehicle, but it is unclear if anything developed.
In 2021 Swift opened up about her growing fear of stalkers and creepy fans, telling Elle: ‘My fear of violence has continued into my personal life.
‘I carry QuikClot army grade bandage dressing, which is for gunshot or stab wounds… you get enough stalkers trying to break into your house and you kind of start prepping for bad things.’
On Friday, a man in a similar outfit to ‘David’ was also seen lingering outside Swift’s apartment
Despite being in the grips of a snowstorm, the man didn’t seem deterred before he was approached by an NYPD vehicle
In May 2023, alleged stalker Mitchel Taebel, 36, from Indiana, was arrested after he visited Swift’s Nashville home, following a string of bizarre antics.
Police said he sent pictures of weapons to members of Swift’s team threatening to ‘destroy them’, before leaving a message with the singer’s father saying he was her ‘soulmate’ and ‘he is the only one that can make her secure.’
In March, Taebel posted a bizarre TikTok video in which he urged fellow Taylor Swift fans to prepare for the Eras tour by ‘being a step ahead of Taylor wherever she goes… watch her every move.’
In July 2022, ‘Swift mania’ also saw Brooklyn resident Joshua Christian fly into a frenzy in court after he was caught trying to sneak into the same TriBeCa apartment, and hurling threats through the intercom.
As he faced a judge, he began screaming: ‘Are you all the biggest jokers in history or actually real? Prove you’re real. Prove you’re real.’
Swift’s megastar status has attracted its fair share of unsavory supporters, including Mitchel Taebel (left) and Joshua Christian (right)
In September 2020, stalker Eric Swarbrick (pictured) was sentenced to 30 months in prison after pleading guilty to following and sending threatening letters to Swift
The manic support that Swift conjures also saw Texas resident Eric Swarbrick plead guilty in September 2020 to stalking and sending threatening letters and emails to her record label.
He was sentenced to 30 months behind bars after reportedly sending over 40 letters and emails to Big Machine Label Group in January 2018.
The threats included urging CEO Scott Borchetta to introduce him to Swift, before they escalated to warnings about how he wanted to rape and murder the singer.
On several occasions Swarbrick drove to Nashville to personally deliver the letters, and police said Swarbrick also told Big Machine he would take his own life in front of the label’s employees.
The year before, Roger Alvarado was also arrested after trying to break into her TriBeCa apartment, and when asked if he would try again reportedly told cops: ‘Probably with more violence, but not towards her.’
‘I don’t want to hurt her. I just wanted to speak to her, to talk to her. She seems nice [and] cool,’ he added.
He later pleaded guilty in court and was sentenced to a minimum of two years in prison.