Opinion
An alleged stalker of the liberal singer Taylor Swift was arrested outside her home in the soft-on-crime Democrat-run New York City on Wednesday less than an hour after he was released on bail by a Manhattan judge for other chargers related to stalking the “Anti-Hero” songstress.
Swift’s Stalker Arrested
The New York Post reported that David Crowe, 33, was arrested at around 1:35pm on Wednesday after he was spotted rummaging through a dumpster across the street from Swift’s Tribeca home.
“Officers were approached by multiple complainants who pointed out an emotionally disturbed male acting erratically at the location,” an NYPD source told Daily Mail. “Once officers observed the male harassing multiple complainants, they took him to custody without further incidents, no injuries were reported.”
Crowe had to have booked it there from his Manhattan Criminal Court arraignment, where prosecutors told a judge that he had staked out Swift’s apartment 30 times over the past two months.
“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],” said a neighbor who didn’t wish to be identified, adding that she is “terrified” of Crowe coming back to the area.
“My heart dropped,” the neighbor continued. “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.”
“He’s been around since Christmas time,” the neighbor added. “The first couple times we saw him, he was sleeping on our stoop or the neighbor’s stoop smoking constantly.”
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Crowe Spotted Near Swift’s Home Many Times
The neighbor went on to say that she saw Crowe over the weekend, when he was detained on Saturday night near the door of Swift’s home. He was quickly released because police didn’t have a complainant file a report or proof that he actually committed a crime, according to law enforcement sources.
Crowe was seen near Swift’s home once again on Monday night, and this time he was hit with charges of stalking in the fourth-degree, a misdemeanor, and two counts of harassment. Since these charges were not eligible for bail, prosecutors instead requested the highest possible tier and level of supervised release during his Wednesday arraignment.
Legal experts were stunned that Crowe was not hit with higher charges the second time that he was arrested, as this would have made it possible for Judge Marisol Martinez Alonso to hold him without bail.
“New York’s felony stalking laws require showing repetitive convictions or use of a weapon against the victim, a very high bar,” explained criminal defense attorney Jason Goldman.
“At the same time, By having such strict requirements, our law almost waits for a potentially deadly crime to be carried out as opposed to an effective ‘preventative anti-stalking’ statute which would make Taylor and others much safer,” Goldman continued. “Mr. Crowe is precisely the type of person and type of scenario that stalking laws are made for so we don’t have another Rebecca Schaeffer on our hands.”
Schaeffer was a television star who was tragically shot dead by her stalker in 1989.
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Welcome To Soft-On-Crime New York
Assistant District Attorney Harriet Jiranek said in court that Crowe has visited Swift’s home many times and has even stopped neighbors to ask where she is.
“He constantly states he is there to see Taylor Swift,” Jiranek said. “He has said this to neighbors and asked where she is.”
Sources claimed that though Crowe is described as “emotionally disturbed,” this was not enough to keep him locked up.
“New York has had a catch and release program for years, people only notice now because it’s Taylor Swift,” one officer lamented.
While it’s unclear if Swift was home on Wednesday, she was in upstate New York on Sunday to cheer on her boyfriend Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs during their playoff game against the Buffalo Bills.
Swift has long been known for having strongly liberal views, but perhaps this experience of having her stalker repeatedly set free to continue targeting her will cause her to rethink voting for Democrats who are soft on crime. Until the liberal laws change in New York City, Swift should not expect Crowe to be stopped anytime soon.
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