Singer Taylor Swift’s stalker sent to mental health facility after judge ruled he was unfit to stand trial
American singer, Taylor Swift’s stalker has been sent to a mental health facility after a judge found him unfit to stand trial.
Manhattan criminal court judge Robert Rosenthal dismissed the criminal case against David Crowe, 33, in an adjournment hearing on Friday.
‘David Crowe is unfit to stand trial. The criminal case is now dismissed by function of law,’ the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office told DailyMail.
‘He will now be committed to the custody of the Office of Mental Health to receive necessary treatment.’
This development comes just a day after a psychiatric exam ordered by the court found Crowe ‘not fit to proceed not just on the evaluation, but also on the review of his criminal record’, his attorney said at the time.
Crowe will be moved from his current incarceration at Rikers, where he was held on $100,000 bail during his trial, to the custody of the Office of Mental Health, TMZ was first to report.
The Seattle law student, who had previously violated a protective order mandating he stay away from Swift and her home, has been seen outside her residence more than 30 times since November.
He was arrested a second time on January 22 after police received reports that he was ‘acting erratically’ outside Swift’s $20 million apartment on Franklin Street.
Later in the same week, on January 24 he was arraigned and issued the protection order.
Crowe was charged with stalking in the fourth degree and harassment in the first- and second-degree before he was released under supervision by a Manhattan judge.
But Crowe was seen diving into a large green dumpster across the pop superstar’s Tribeca home on the same afternoon.
He looked inside from different angles and was spotted by nearby neighbours who were left concerned at his actions before he was arrested by the New York City Police Department.
An NYPD spokesman said police officers responded to a 911 call of a disorderly male on Franklin Street at 1:35 pm.
Once the cops arrived, he left the location and walked into the first precinct where he was taken into custody.
‘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],’ a resident told The New York Post.
His sweatshirt featured the quote by American author Ursula K Le Guin, which reads: ‘Love doesn’t just sit there, like a stone, it has to be made, like bread; remade all the time, made new.’
One neighbour told the New York Post that the man had been seen regularly outside the building since Christmas – sitting on the doorstep, chain-smoking, and telling people he was there to see Swift. He even had flowers for her at one point.
A spokesperson for the New York Police Department (NYPD) said: ‘Officers were approached by multiple complainants who pointed out an emotionally disturbed male acting erratically at the location.
‘Once officers observed the male harassing multiple complainants, they took him to custody without further incidents, no injuries were reported.’
Prosecutors said that Crowe, from Seattle, has been spotted at Swift’s Tribeca home as many as 30 times since November 25. He allegedly asked to speak to the singer several times.
Crowe was asked about 10 times not to approach the building or to leave, according to prosecutors