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Man Previously Arrested For Breaking Into Taylor Swift's Home Allegedly Causes $20K Damage On Trump Property
A police chief says that Richard McEwan quit his job and feared government surveillance before breaking into Taylor Swift's home.
Last month, a New Jersey man was apprehended after allegedly breaking into Taylor Swift's beachfront Rhode Island abode. This month, that same man was caught allegedly destroying the greenery at a Trump golf course.
Richard Joseph McEwan is accused of causing approximately $20,000 worth of damage on Trump properties after driving onto the Trump National Golf Course and doing "donuts" on to the grass — on two separate occasions. Police were called to the scene on September 3 — and again on September 8 — after an employee noticed a man spinning his vehicle in circles and blasting loud music.
McEwan allegedly managed to escape police capture the first time, but police were able to observe his license plate the second time around, leading to an arrest without incident made at McEwan's home on on September 10, according to NJ.com. McEwan was charged with third-degree criminal mischief and has since been released, pending a court date in the near future, according to a statement posted to the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office Facebook page.
The first incident is believed to have caused around $10,000 worth of damage, the second between $7,000 and $9,000.
“He will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” Kimberly Benza, a spokeswoman for the Trump Organization, said in an email to the New York Times.
Only a few days before the first altercation on the Trump property, McEwan had been arrested in Rhode Island after allegedly scaling a wall of a mansion owned by pop star Taylor Swift. McEwan's entrance into the home on August 30 triggered a security alarm. When police arrived, McEwan reportedly told officers that he had taken off his shoes to be polite.
“There was a set of shoes on the floor, and he was found without shoes on, just a pair of socks on,” explained Chief Shawn Lacey of the Westerly Police Department to The Times. “Obviously we asked, ‘Why are your shoes off?’ And he indicated, ‘I was raised to take my shoes off when you go into somebody’s house.'"
Lacey added that McEwan had quit his job in May and was fearful about being surveilled by the government.
“I feel really bad for the kid,” Lacey added. “I hope the guy gets the help he needs.”
The charges resulting from the Swift house break in were issued on the same day McEwan was first spotted on the Trump property.
