A 43-year-old man was apprehended on Thursday and faces charges of stalking after reports emerged that he was going door to door in search of Drew Barrymore’s residence.
This incident occurred just three days after Barrymore was escorted off stage during an event at the 92nd Street Y in New York City. A member of the audience approached her and shouted, “You know who I am! I need to see you at some point while you’re in New York,” as captured in videos shared on social media.
The police in Southampton Town, located just outside Manhattan, confirmed that Chad Michael Busto was arrested for misdemeanor stalking on Thursday afternoon. The arrest occurred after a 911 call was made reporting a suspicious person riding a bicycle into private driveways and claiming to be searching for Drew Barrymore’s residence, as stated in a press release by Lt. Todd Spencer.
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Southampton police have yet to officially confirm if Busto is the same man who confronted Barrymore at Monday’s event, but Lt. Spencer stated in an email to Global News that “it is believed that he is the same person.”
In videos of the incident on Monday, the man rushes towards the stage identifying himself as “Chad Michael Busto.”
Busto was initially located by the police on Wednesday while he was reportedly searching Southampton for Barrymore. However, he was released after a brief detainment for questioning. Patrol officers informed the detectives about the incident, resulting in a follow-up investigation.
The police stated, “Their investigation led to facts that substantiated a charge for Stalking and a wanted flyer was distributed to neighboring agencies.” The investigators have also become aware of previous incidents involving Busto and Barrymore.
On Thursday afternoon, East Hampton Town Police located Busto, apprehended him, and turned him over to Southampton police. Busto spent the night in jail and was arraigned on Friday morning.
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Barrymore has not yet made a public statement regarding Busto’s arrest.
During Monday’s event, Barrymore was in conversation with actor and singer Reneé Rapp when the interruption occurred. Rapp quickly stood up and positioned herself in front of Barrymore before escorting her off stage. A security guard then removed Busto from the venue.
The disruption only momentarily halted the event, and Barrymore and Rapp returned to the stage shortly after to resume their discussion. Barrymore complimented Rapp on her protectiveness and jokingly asked, “OK, so what were we talking about?”