A man broke into pop star Taylor Swift’s mansion in Rhode Island on Friday, and police say the 26-year-old suspect removed his shoes upon entering in an attempt to be polite.
According to a report Wednesday from NJ.com , 26-year-old Richard J. McEwan, of Milford New Jersey, is the third man who has attempted to enter Swift’s nearly 12,000-square-foot mansion property in Westerly, Rhode Island in the past two months. As NJ.com detailed, McEwan was the first of the trio of men to make it inside Swift’s home.
The 29-year-old singer-songwriter was not in the home at the time of the break-in, which was reported to police after it occurred at about 5:10 p.m. Friday when a neighbor saw a man scaling a wall around the property. According to authorities, motion sensors triggered a call to police, though a security guard on the premises was allegedly unable to hear the alarm that it triggered due to windy conditions, per NJ.com.
Police didn’t find McEwan when they conducted a sweep outside the home, but reportedly found the man inside the home’s foyer when they entered the property. According to NJ.com, McEwan allegedly entered the home, removed his orange shoes to be “polite” and began wandering around the premises looking for Swift.
Although McEwan allegedly ran from police, they were able to catch him after a short chase.
The “London Boy” singer has been the victim of many break-in attempts over the years. According to BuzzFeed News , a man was arrested earlier this year after breaking into the singer’s New York townhome on three separate occasions. Roger Alvarado was arrested in March following his third break-in. Per BuzzFeed News , Alvarado had already served six months in prison after he pleaded guilty to breaking into her home, taking a shower, and sleeping in her bed before being arrested in 2018.
In March, Swift told Elle that her fear of violence has caused her to carry QuikClot, army-grade bandages meant to stop bleeding following a gunshot wound or injury from a knife. In that interview, Swift specifically said she was scared about stalkers breaking into her home after several previous instances, and because tabloid magazines had shared all of her addresses.
. @taylorswift13 scores her 25th top 10 hit on the #Hot100 with #Lover https://t.co/ALmFxeW9dk pic.twitter.com/n8tdWBwfUh
— billboard (@billboard) September 4, 2019
According to an article from Business Insider , the singer-songwriter owns about $81 million worth of real estate in the United States across several states, including New York, California, Tennessee, and Rhode Island.
While last week’s break-in might give Swift reason for concern, the 29-year-old is likely more focused on her album Lover, which was released last week and, according to Billboard , is already the highest-selling album of the year.