A 43-year-old man was arrested Thursday and charged with stalking after police said they were notified he was going door to door looking for Drew Barrymore’s house.
The incident comes just three days after Barrymore was escorted off stage during an event at the 92nd Street Y in New York City, when an audience member approached her and shouted, “You know who I am! I need to see you at some point while you’re in New York,” according to videos shared on social media.
Police in Southampton Town, just outside Manhattan, reported that they arrested Chad Michael Busto for misdemeanour stalking on Thursday afternoon.
The arrest came a day after police received a 911 call about a suspicious person who was “riding a bicycle up into private driveways and stating to area residents that he was looking for Drew Barrymore’s residence,” Lt. Todd Spencer wrote in a press release.
Southampton police have yet to officially confirm if Busto is the same man who rushed Barrymore at Monday’s event. Spencer wrote in an email to Global News: “It is believe(d) that he is the same person.”
According to videos of Monday’s interaction between Barrymore and the audience member, the man identifies himself as “Chad Michael Busto” as he rushes to the stage.
Busto was located by police on Wednesday as he was allegedly scouring Southampton for Barrymore, but was released after a “brief detainment for questioning,” Lt. Spencer wrote.
Patrol officers notified detectives about the incident and a follow-up investigation was conducted.
“Their investigation led to facts that substantiated a charge for Stalking and a wanted flyer was distributed to neighboring agencies,” police said, adding that investigators became aware of “previous incidents” between Busto and Barrymore.
On Thursday afternoon, East Hampton Town Police located Busto, took him into custody and turned him over to Southampton police. Busto was held in jail overnight and was arraigned Friday morning.
Barrymore has yet to comment publicly on Busto’s arrest.
During Monday’s event, Barrymore was leading a discussion with actor and singer Reneé Rapp when the interruption occurred.
Rapp quickly stood up when the man, believed to be Busto, approached the stage. She stood in front of Barrymore before taking the 50 First Dates actor by the arm and leading her off stage.
A security guard then removed Busto from the theatre.
The disturbance only briefly derailed the event, and Barrymore and Rapp returned after a short while to continue their discussion.
“I have a new definition of your sexiness. It’s that level of protectiveness,” Barrymore said to Rapp, after they came back on stage. “OK, so what were we talking about?”
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