La Porte County man charged over his alleged obsession with Taylor Swift

BY STAN MADDUX

ALong Beach man was still being held Wednesday, June 7, in the La Porte County Jail on allegations that include being stopped by security multiple times in his bid to reach superstar recording artist Taylor Swift.

Mitchell Taebel, 36, of 2020 Golden Gate Drive is charged in La Porte Superior Court 1 with level 5 felony stalking; level 6 felony intimidation along with invasion of privacy and harassment, both misdemeanors.

The man was returned to the jail following his initial hearing Tuesday after Judge Jamie Oss denied his request to be released on his own recognizance.

Taebel was being held on $15,000 cash only bond.

The 33-year-old Swift is in the midst of her wildly popular Eras Tour, which included three recent performances at Soldier Field in Chicago and upcoming shows Friday and Saturday in Detroit.

According to court documents, his alleged criminal activity beginning March 25 included sending a voice message to her official Instagram account stating “he would happily wear a bomb if he cannot be with his soul mate.”

The next day, he allegedly left a message for Swift’s father claiming to be her “soulmate” and sent her a picture the following week on Instagram of someone firing a handgun at a gun range, police said.

The picture also contained a message threatening harm to Swift and all of her dancers.

In another message to the pop artist, he said “Y’all get ready you thugs because we’re going to cancel this damn tour and still destroy you,” according to court documents.

Attached to that message was a picture of a man holding an AR-15 rifle, police said.

In the coming weeks, there were also messages from Taebel expressing a desire to meet and for them to be together and then “shoot ourselves if we had to,” court documents revealed.

On May 5, police said Taebel traveled to some luxury condominiums in Nashville, Tennessee, believing Swift was there and, while claiming to be a “popular TV host, asked security to let her know he was in the lobby.

He allegedly fled when police were called.

According to court documents, he went to Nissan Stadium in Nashville where Swift was scheduled to perform that evening.

He was near a VIP area when recognized from a list of security threats and removed for safety reasons.

After returning home, he allegedly posted a message wishing death for people who think it’s illegal to go to where somebody lives to see if they want to meet.

Police said he also maintained thoughts of him being elected President and Swift becoming his First Lady.

According to court documents, Swift’s management team obtained a temporary restraining order, which was served to Taebel on May 13.

He allegedly violated the order by posting more messages about Swift and tagging her on social media, court records disclosed.

Taebel has accounts dedicated to Swift on YouTube and Facebook.