Alleged Taylor Swift Stalker Released From NYPD Custody After First Court Hearing

A man arrested and charged with stalking Taylor Swift outside her Manhattan home has been released from police custody on supervised release after an arraignment hearing on Wednesday (Jan. 24).

David Crowe, 31, was arrested both Saturday and Monday outside Swift’s TriBeCa apartment building. Manhattan prosecutors, who charged the man with one count of stalking and two counts of harassment, say Crowe has been seen at the location more than 30 times since November.

At his first court hearing on Wednesday, a judge ordered Crowe released from custody but issued a protection order barring him from trying to contact Swift and imposed supervision to ensure that he abides by the order and returns to court for his next hearing.

The charges against Crowe were not eligible for bail under New York law, but prosecutors had urged the judge to impose “supervised release at the highest possible tier and level.”

“The defendant’s continued conduct in showing up to this location despite numerous directives to leave shows a clear risk that the defendant will not abide by court orders to return to court,” Harriet Jiranek told the judge at the hearing. “Based on the conduct in this case, the defendant should be under some level of supervision to ensure he abides by the order of protection and returns to court as directed.

Crowe was first arrested on Saturday afternoon, police say, after they responded to a 911 call regarding a “disorderly person” near Swift’s apartment. Crowe had allegedly “attempted to open a door to a building at the location” and was taken into custody on a previous arrest warrant.

Then on Monday evening, witnesses reported an “emotionally disturbed male acting erratically” near the same location, police say; officers then spotted Crowe “harassing multiple complainants” and he was taken into custody.

In charging documents, prosecutors say that a security guard for an unnamed individual — presumed to be Swift — reported that Crowe has been spotted near Swift’s apartment roughly 30 times since late November and that on multiple occasions he had stated that he was there to speak to the same unnamed individual. The security guard reported that he had “asked the defendant not to approach the building or to leave the immediate area surrounding the building” on 10 separate occasions.

If convicted of the charges — all misdemeanors — Crowe faces up to three months in prison for both the stalking count and the harassment in the first degree count. If convicted of his third count, of harassment in the second degree, Crowe faces up to a year in prison.

Swift’s publicist did not immediately return a request for comment on the incident. Crowe could not immediately be located for comment.