Taylor Swift: Man breaks into pop star's Rhode Island mansion
Artist has dealt with a number of home intrusions through her career
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A 26-year-old man has been charged with wilful trespassing after breaking into Taylor Swift‘s beach-front mansion in Rhode Island.
Richard Joseph McEwan was found by Westerly police just after 5pm on Friday 30 August. Police Chief Shawn Lacey told the Westerly Sun that his officers have had to deal with a number of suspicious people at the pop star’s home, but this is the first time he remembers someone making it inside.
It is the department’s third arrest since 19 July related to unauthorised men seeking access to the property.
According to the police report, no one was at home at the time of the break-in. McEwan reportedly jumped a fence and broke a glass door to gain entry before wandering the house “to find Taylor”.
Swift has had to deal with a number of intrusions at her properties, including one last year where a man was arrested outside her Beverly Hills home with rope, a knife, and ammunition.
Another incident involved 22-year-old Roger Alvarado, who last year broke into Swift’s home in the Tribeca neighbourhood and fell asleep after using her shower. It was the second time he had been arrested at the address in 2018, after reportedly breaking down her front door with a shovel on 13 February.
After serving six months in prison for the April 13 break-in, Alvarado was arrested again on March 2019 after allegedly climbing a ladder to a second-floor patio and smashing a door to get inside her Manhattan townhouse. No one was home at the time.
Swift said in a recent interview with Elle that she fears for her personal safety after several stalking and intruder incidents.
“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.”