A masked man has been arrested on suspicion of stalking Taylor Swift at her home in Los Angeles and was found to have ammunition, a knife, rope and gloves in his car at the time of his arrest.
Julius Sandrock, 38, was apprehended by police after travelling over 1,000 miles from his home town of Broomfield, Colorado, to Swift’s home in Beverly Hills to, he said, “visit” her. Police filed a temporary restraining order against Sandrock and jailed him for three days. He told police he owned three handguns, and is reportedly on probation in Colorado for “disorderly conduct and discharging a firearm”.
He also told police he has depression, bipolar disorder, manic episodes and obsessive compulsive disorder; he was found to be in possession of prescription medications.
Earlier this month, a homeless man, Justin Lilly, was arrested for trying to climb a perimeter wall at Swift’s home.
Swift was also ordered to pay $75,000 in legal costs this week in the wake of a copyright lawsuit filed against her. She had been accused of taking lyrics from the song Playas Gon’ Play by 3LW for her own song Shake It Off, but the case was dismissed in February – judge Michael Fitzgerald found that “the alleged infringed lyrics are short phrases that lack the modicum of originality and creativity required for copyright protection”.
Swift’s team argued that the pop star should not shoulder the legal fees, but Fitzgerald ruled that she was “perfectly capable” of bearing the cost. He added that Swift is likely to benefit from a legal structure in which songwriters feel free to make copyright infringement claims without fear of huge legal costs. “There are very few recording artists, if any, who have a greater interest than Ms Swift in a robust regime of copyright law,” he said. “Be careful what you wish for.”
