‘UNFIT’ IN SWIFT CASE
Accused serial stalker won’t face trial, sent to psych facility
The Taylor Swift serial stalker accused of repeatedly showing up outside the music icon’s Tribeca townhouse was found mentally unfit to stand trial and has been committed to psychiatric care, Manhattan prosecutors said.
The decision came during a brief Manhattan Criminal Court hearing Friday for Seattle resident David Crowe, who was sitting in a jail cell for repeatedly showing up at the “Shake It Off” crooner’s Franklin St. apartment in January.
An examination by a mental health professional found that “David Crowe is unfit to stand trial,” a spokesman for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement.
“The criminal case is now dismissed by function of law. He will now be committed to the custody of the Office of Mental Health to receive necessary treatment,” the spokesman said.
Prosecutors can resurrect the charges against Crowe if he is deemed healthy enough to help in his own defense in the future, officials said.
Crowe, 33, is accused of unlawfully visiting Swift’s home three times in January — including visits hours after he was released from custody on charges he was stalking and harassing the singing star.
On Jan. 22, Crowe was arrested for trying to break into Swift’s apartment, cops and prosecutors said.
After he was released without bail two days later, he walked 10 minutes from the courthouse back to the pop star’s pad, where he was seen acting erratically.
Cops charged him with violating a judge’s order barring him from going to Swift’s home.
At his arraignment late in January, he was ordered held without bail. His lawyer, Katherine LeGeros Bajuk of New York County Defender Services, asked for a mental competency exam.
“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,” Bajuk said in a statement. “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 reentry into society.”
A security worker at Swift’s building previously told police he encountered Crowe at the home around 30 times between Nov. 25 and Monday, hoping to speak with the “Bad Blood” singer, and was told to leave at least 10 times, according to a criminal complaint.
Swift was in Japan on Saturday on the Japanese leg of her worldwide Eras Tour.
After her concert at the Tokyo Dome ended Saturday night, she immediately jumped on a private jet for a 12-hourflight to Las Vegas so she could cheer on boyfriend Travis Kelce as his Kansas City Chiefs take on the San Francisco 49ers at Super Bowl LVIII on Sunday.
Swift has been harassed for years by crazed fans and stalkers.
In July 2022, 35-year-old Joshua Christian of Brooklyn allegedly shouted threats into the intercom at Swift’s Tribeca townhouse, warning that he would “hurt her if they weren’t together,” a police source said.
Morgan Mank was charged with drunkenly crashing his vehicle into the side of the townhouse in January 2022 and stated that he would not leave the scene of the crash until he met Swift.
Other incidents involved a “superfan” in 2021, a stalker in 2019 and a musician looking for career help in 2016.
Stalkers have also tried to get into Swift’s other properties, including her home in Beverly Hills and her mansion in Rhode Island.