Man busted for breaking into Taylor Swift's home named as Trump golf course vandal

Taryn Ryder
Updated ·2 min read
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Richard J. McEwan was arrested Tuesday at his New Jersey home for allegedly driving his car onto President Trump’s golf course and doing "donuts" on the greens. The Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office confirmed to Yahoo Entertainment the 26-year-old was taken in without incident and charged with third degree criminal mischief.

McEwan is accused of vandalizing the president's New Jersey golf course twice in the last week, driving his blue Ford sedan in circles on two different greens and causing at least $17,000 in damage. Prosecutors said he was released with a future court date pending. A Trump Organization spokesman declared to The Washington Post that McEwan should be "prosecuted to the full extent of the law."

Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J. Photo: Getty Images
Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J. (Photo: Getty Images)

Trump hasn't been McEwan's only high-profile target. He was arrested for allegedly breaking into Taylor Swift's home on Aug. 30.

Rhode Island police say they found McEwan in the foyer of Swift’s Watch Hill mansion after he supposedly hopped a fence and broke a glass door looking for the singer. He was arrested after a brief barefoot chase; a pair of orange shoes were found in the doorway where McEwan is said to have entered. He later told officers he took off his shoes "because it was polite," explaining that he was raised to "take your shoes off" anytime "you go into someone’s house."

McEwan was charged with breaking and entering a home without the owner's consent and willful trespassing, but was was released on a $5,000 surety bond on Sept. 3. The first incident of vandalism at Trump’s golf course occurred around 5:30 p.m. later that day. The second incident occurred on Sunday, Sept. 8.

Police in Rhode Island said they were working with his family to get him a psychiatric evaluation.

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