The Seattle law student accused of stalking Taylor Swift is reportedly mentally unfit for trial and will stay in Rikers on a $100,000 bail after he was caught rummaging through a dumpster outside the popstars’ NYC home.
David Crowe, 33, did not appear at Manhattan criminal court yesterday after a court-ordered psychiatric exam found him ‘not fit to proceed not just on the evaluation, but also on the review of his criminal record’, his attorney said.
Attorney Katherine LeGeros Bajuk also said that Crowe will stay in Rikers until at least tomorrow – when another hearing is scheduled – instead of being transferred to a mental health facility.
So far the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office has not agree to transfer him, LeGeros Bajuk told reporters outside the court according to the New York Post.
Last month Crowe was arrested three times in front of Swift’s home in Manhattan’s Tribeca neighborhood as he was accused of stalking and harassing the star after he was spotted near her apartment 30 times since November.
David Crowe, 33, did not appear at Manhattan criminal court yesterday after a court-ordered psychiatric exam found him ‘not fit to proceed not just on the evaluation, but also on the review of his criminal record’, his attorney said (Crowe pictured above during a court appearance on January 24)
Last month Crowe was arrested three times in front of Taylor Swift’s (pictured) home in Manhattan’s Tribeca neighborhood as he was accused of stalking and harassing the star after he was spotted near her apartment 30 times since November
He has been in custody since he violated a protective order mandating he stay away from Swift and her home when he was caught on camera rummaging through the large green dumpster across the Tribeca home.
Crowe has been held in Rikers on a $100,000 bail since for contempt after violating the protection order.
The alleged stalker was arrested on January 21 after a failed attempt to get into Swift’s apartment building.
He was arrested a second time on January 22 after police were told he was ‘acting erratically’ outside Swift’s $20million apartment on Franklin Street.
Later in the same week, on January 24 he was arraigned and issued the protection order. Crowe was charged with stalking in the fourth-degree and harassment in the first- and second-degrees before he was released under supervision by a Manhattan judge.
But Crowe, who was wearing a gray jacket, light pants, white sneakers and a blue backpack, was seen diving into a large green dumpster across the pop superstar’s Tribeca home on the same afternoon.
Court documents say an unidentified security worker had spotted Crowe near the singer’s Manhattan home about 30 times since November 25 of last year and has repeatedly been told to leave the area
Crowe had previously been charged with stalking and harassment and had been ordered by a judge on January 24 to stay away from Swift’s home. His most recent charges stemmed from that violation of the protective order
He looked inside from different angles and was spotted by nearby neighbors who were left concerned at his actions before he was arrested the New York City Police Department.
An NYPD spokesman said police officers responded to a 911 call of a disorderly male on Franklin Street at 1.35pm.
Once the cops arrived, he left the location and walked into the first precinct where he was taken into custody.
‘I just saw him digging through this dumpster, taking out some blankets and then he just went and sat down on the loading dock a few doors down [from Swift’s apartment],’ a resident told The New York Post.
His sweatshirt featured the quote by American author Ursula K Le Guin, which reads: ‘Love doesn’t just sit there, like a stone, it has to be made, like bread; remade all the time, made new.’
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.
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.’
Prosecutors said that Crowe, from Seattle, has been spotted at Swift’s Tribeca home as many as 30 times since November 25. He allegedly asked to speak to the singer several times.
Crowe was asked about 10 times not to approach the building or to leave, according to prosecutors.