Taylor Swift’s accused stalker avoids criminal charges, moved to NY state mental hospital
The Seattle University law student accused of stalking Taylor Swift outside her New York City apartment had his criminal case tossed Friday after being found mentally unfit to stand trial.
David Crowe, 33, will be transferred from Rikers Island to a state hospital upstate for mental health treatment, according to Manhattan prosecutors and his defense attorney.
During a brief hearing in Manhattan Criminal Court, Assistant District Attorney Grace Lunden moved to have all charges against the alleged serial lurker dismissed.
Crowe, who wasn’t present for the hearing, was infamously caught rummaging through a dumpster outside Swift’s Tribeca apartment last month — just 45 minutes after he’d been released with a restraining order.
He was sent to Rikers by a Manhattan judge a day later for violating the order of protection, and had been locked up there since.
“We are pleased that all parties now agree to the obvious truth that Mr. Crowe is too ill to proceed, and that he requires treatment, not jail,” Crowe’s attorney Katherine LeGeros Bajuk said in a statement Friday.
“We look forward to ensuring Mr. Crowe is provided with the psychiatric treatment and supportive social services he needs to achieve a successful and stable re-entry into society.”
Bajuk had argued in court Wednesday that Crowe was mentally unfit to stand trial after he was evaluated by at least two psychiatrists.
The mental health professionals found him “not fit to proceed not just on the evaluation, but also on the review of his criminal record,” his attorney said.
The court-ordered evaluation came after Crowe’s most recent arrest Jan. 24 outside the “You Belong With Me” pop star’s home.
He had been a nuance to neighbors on Swift’s quiet block, where he was alleged to have been spotted 30 times in two months.
Crowe was taken into custody there three days prior, and was initially charged with stalking in the fourth degree, a misdemeanor, and two counts of harassment, which were not bail-eligible.
After getting out, he was again spotted by a neighbor, who called police upon seeing him dig through a dumpster across the street from Swift’s apartment.
“My heart dropped,” the neighbor said at the time. “I just thought, ‘Oh my god, I can’t believe this guy is back! I just want to never see this person again. I hope he gets the help he needs but he needs to leave our little street alone.”
Crowe said later that he was simply returning to Swift’s block to retrieve some personal items out of the dumpster.
But prosecutors beefed up the charges after he violated the court order, charging him with four counts of criminal contempt, which would require bail, to “ensure Ms. Swift’s safety.”
“Your honor, no way,” he said in disbelief when Judge Marisol Martinez Alonso sent him to lockup at the time.
