Calese Crowder, the 39-year-old registered sex offender whose pattern of crouching behind shoppers in Southern California stores has made him a recurring figure in local news and online clips, is back in custody.
Glendale police arrested him Friday afternoon after receiving reports from two businesses about a man hunkered down in the aisles and getting unusually close to people. The first call came in around 3:30 p.m. to the Big Sav Discount Store on Glenoaks Boulevard. Staff and customers described a man crouching low and appearing to smell shoppers as they moved through the store.
Surveillance footage later confirmed Crowder’s presence. Store manager Jimmy Koh told local reporters it was the third time he had seen the same man engage in the behavior at his location. “I know he’s harmless, but it’s a weird fetish,” Koh said. “Crouching down like he normally would, and he’ll just look around and try to take the chance to sniff like any woman’s butt.”
While officers were still at the first scene, a second nearly identical report came from a nearby Marshalls. Police reviewed video from both stores, identified Crowder, and located him a short distance away on South Brand Boulevard. He was arrested on a parole violation and held without bail.
Crowder’s history with this specific behavior stretches back several years. In 2023, a TikTok posted by content creator Michaela Witter went viral after she filmed a man later identified as Crowder crouching closely behind her at a Barnes & Noble in Burbank. When confronted, he said he was tying his shoes. Around the same period he was also arrested for peeping into a Glendale home occupied by a family.
The pattern continued into 2025. In July of that year, Burbank police said surveillance at a Nordstrom Rack showed Crowder following a woman into the women’s department, crouching behind her, and sniffing her. He was later found at a nearby Walmart. Weeks afterward he was arrested again following a similar report at a Walgreens.
Despite multiple short jail stints for parole violations — including sentences of 99, 105, and 135 days in recent years — Crowder has repeatedly returned to the same retail environments. By 2023 he already had more than 40 arrests in Los Angeles County, with prior convictions that include burglary, robbery, and related offenses. He remains a registered sex offender.
Legal observers have noted that the nature of the acts — often involving no physical contact — has frequently led to misdemeanor or parole-violation handling rather than more serious new charges, contributing to the cycle of release and re-arrest.
As of this week, Crowder remains in custody pending a parole hearing. Glendale police have indicated the latest surveillance evidence is being reviewed by prosecutors for possible additional charges.
