(Richard McEwan and the golf course at Trump National GC-Bedminster)
Richard McEwan is accused of “doing donuts” in a car on the New Jersey property’s golf course on two separate occasions in early September, causing a total of nearly $20,000 in damage. McEwan was also apprehended in pop star Taylor Swift’s mansion in Westerly, R.I. on August 30, after scaling a wall and triggering a burglar alarm.
The man accused of twice “doing donuts” in a car on Trump National Golf Course in Bedminster, N.J., days after he allegedly broke into Taylor Swift’s Rhode Island home, was scheduled to appear in court on the morning of September 12, NJ.com reported.
Richard Joseph McEwan, 26, of Milford, N.J. was scheduled to appear in Superior Court in Somerset County, N.J. on third-degree criminal mischief charges relating to the $20,000 in damage he is accused of causing to the Trump property, NJ.com reported. The two golf-course joyrides on September 3 and again on September 8 capped a bizarre nine-day span that started when McEwan allegedly broke into Swift’s home on August 30, after taking his shoes off “to be polite,” as he explained to investigators.
Around 5:30 p.m. on September 3, a Trump National employee spotted a vehicle playing loud music and doing “donuts” on the grass around the 11th hole of the Trump Bedminster course, Somerset County Prosecutor Michael Robertson said.
When police searched the property, they found a plastic piece with a Ford label on it, authorities said.
It wasn’t long before the police allege that McEwan struck again, NJ.com reported, this time spinning his car out near the 13th hole at 3:36 p.m. on September 8.
A witness reported seeing a blue Ford with a Rutgers sticker driven by a younger man, and a partial license plate number led investigators to McEwan, who was arrested on September 10.
The Sept. 3 incident caused more than $10,000 in damage, with an estimated $7,000 to $9,000 tacked on after second occurrence, the prosecutor’s office noted.
“He will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” a Trump Organization spokesperson told NJ.com.
C+RB featured Trump National GC-Bedminster as the cover story of its January 2015 issue (https://clubandresortbusiness.com/youre-hired/)
McEwan is also facing charges in Westerly, R.I. related to the break-in at the five-acre property owned by Taylor Swift, after police there say he scaled a wall around a mansion belonging to the pop star.
Swift was not home at the time on August 30 when McEwan triggered a burglar alarm at around 5:10 p.m., drawing police to the property. He broke a glass door and began wandering the home in search of Swift, investigators said. Officers found him standing in the foyer of the 11,744-sq. ft., seven-bedroom, nine-bath beachfront home and arrested him after a short chase, NJ.com reported.
McEwan later told investigators he took off his orange shoes when he got inside, because he was taught it was polite to remove shoes when a guest in someone’s home, NJ.com reported.
The 26-year-old was the third to attempt a break-in of Swift’s Rhode Island home and the first to make it inside, NJ.com reported. Police said he had no weapons and didn’t intend to hurt anyone. After being charged with breaking and entering and willful trespassing in Rhode Island, he posted a $5,000 bond and was released, pending a future court date.
Days later, police say, McEwan was back at it in his home state.
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