A man charged with stalking Taylor Swift outside her Manhattan home was arrested for a third time Wednesday shortly after he was released from police custody, meaning he’s facing new felony charges that could keep him behind bars for years.
David Crowe, 31, had already been arrested on Saturday and Monday outside Swift’s TriBeCa apartment building and charged with misdemeanor stalking and harassment. But after he was released following an arraignment hearing on Wednesday, he apparently bee-lined back to the same location.
Police say they responded to a 911 call around 2:30 pm about a disorderly male in the area of Swift’s apartment. Though Crowe was gone when they arrived, police say he later turned himself in and was arrested for violating the strict protection order imposed on him as a condition of his release.
In addition to the original charges, Crowe is now facing four counts of criminal contempt in the first degree, a spokesman for the New York Police Department confirmed to Billboard – a felony that can result in as much as a five-year prison sentence. It’s unclear if the new counts are bail-eligible under New York state law, which would make it harder for Crowe to seek another quick release.
Crowe could be arraigned in Manhattan court on Thursday or Friday on the new charges. Manhattan prosecutors declined to comment on Crowe’s latest arrest.
The Seattle native 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.
Following that arrest, Crowe was charged with one count of stalking in the fourth degree, one count of harassment in the first degree, and one count of harassment in the second degree.
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 those original charges — all misdemeanors — Crowe faces up to three months in prison for both the stalking count and the first-degree harassment count. If convicted on the second-degree, Crowe faces up to a year in prison.
This story originally appeared on Billboard
