Man arrested near Taylor Swift’s New York apartment building
A man was arrested near Taylor Swift’s New York pad after he ‘tried to open a door to a building’
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A man was arrested near Taylor Swift’s New York apartment after police received a report of a disorderly person on Saturday.
Police did not confirm if an attempted break-in happened at the pop star’s home, but officers had made an arrest of a man on the same street, where they were told he tried to open a door to a building, a NYPD spokesperson told the Associated Press.
The same man was charged on an unrelated warrant out of Brooklyn in 2017 for allegedly failing to answer a summons, the spokesperson reportedly said.
It was unclear if Ms Swift was home at the time, but she had travelled to the Buffalo, New York area ahead of a Kansas City Chiefs game where Travis Kelce played against the Buffalo Bills in an NFL playoff.
The identity of the man has yet to be released.
Alleged witnesses told Page Six that the man “went up to Taylor’s door” around 1pm, while others said to the outlet that the man has been “lurking here for a month”.
Ms Swift’s Tribeca building has been the target of several break-ins and attempts over the past few years. In 2021, an alleged stalker was arrested after a report of him getting inside the singer’s Tribeca building was sent to the police, and he was charged with trespassing.
The 52-year-old man had reportedly rung the doorbell and tried to enter the building at least five times over six months, a security guard told police at the time, the AP said.
A man had also broken into her Big Apple apartment in 2018 and took a shower and then a nap before he was arrested.
The same man, Roger Alvarado, struck again the following year after climbing a ladder and smashing a glass door to get inside her property and was sentenced to two to four years in prison.
More recently, a man named Joshua Christian had been travelling “across multiple states” to see Ms Swift at her Tribeca apartment.
He was arrested in July 2022, charged with stalking and criminal trespass after he allegedly got in through an unlocked door and spoke over her intercom, reportedly saying, “You’re dead, you know. You’re holding her prisoner, and I need to set her free,” according to the assistant district attorney, per The New York Post.
The pop singer’s homes in Beverly Hills and Nashville have also been the targets of stalkers, break-ins and attempted entry.
”Swift mania” has attracted huge numbers of adoring fans for the pop star, but this degree of fame and notoriety means there’s a different level of security threats.
In an article by Elle in 2019, the singer said one of her biggest fears is keeping her fans safe while at concerts, which had transpired into a “fear of violence” in her personal life.
“I carry QuikClot army-grade bandage dressing, which is for gunshot or stab wounds. Websites and tabloids have taken it upon themselves to post every home address I’ve ever had online,” she said.
“You get enough stalkers trying to break into your house and you kind of start prepping for bad things.”
The Independent has contacted the NYPD for comment.