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Registered Sex Offender Arrested Again After Alleged Sniffing Incidents at Glendale Stores
Calese Crowder, a registered sex offender, was arrested Friday in Glendale for allegedly violating parole by attempting to sniff people at a grocery store and a nearby Marshalls. Police identified him through surveillance footage. Crowder has a history of similar incidents dating back to 2021.
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Arrest in Glendale
A 39-year-old registered sex offender was arrested on Friday for violating his parole after he was allegedly trying to sniff people at stores in Glendale. Calese Crowder was taken into custody following reports from a grocery store and a nearby Marshalls store, according to Glendale police.
Around 3:30 , Glendale police received a call about a suspicious man allegedly attempting to sniff people in a grocery store in the 1500 block of Glenoaks Boulevard. Additional calls came from a nearby Marshalls store reporting similar behavior. Police reviewed surveillance footage from both stores and identified Crowder as the suspect, CBS News reported.
Crowder remains in custody without bail to await his next hearing.
History of Similar Incidents
Crowder has a history of similar crimes in Glendale and Burbank dating back to 2021, according to police reports. Last year, he was arrested twice in one month for allegedly harassing women by sniffing them, Burbank police said.
In a widely shared incident from 2021, a video posted on TikTok showed Crowder bending down behind a woman in a bookstore, claiming to "tie his shoe" within inches of her. The video also showed him approaching another woman in the store moments later and doing much the same.
In 2023, Crowder was arrested for peeping and prowling at a Glendale home.
Parole and Criminal Background
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation records show that Crowder previously served time for a number of crimes, including possession of a controlled substance, burglary, and robbery. Most recently, he was jailed in July 2024 for attempted first-degree burglary.
Though he was sentenced to three years, he received pre-sentencing credit for time served and engaged in credit-earning opportunities while incarcerated. He was released to parole supervision in June 2025.
How each outlet told it
A framing line is our reading of that outlet's own text — an interpretation, not a quotation and not a fact we assert. Check it against what the outlet published.
Framing: Emphasizes the arrest of a sex offender for a repeat offense of sniffing people at stores.
Facts Included:
A 39-year-old man was arrested on Friday for violating his parole after he was allegedly trying to sniff people at stores in Glendale.
Last year, registered sex offender Calese Crowder was arrested two times in one month for allegedly harassing women by sniffing them, Burbank police said.
Crowder has a history of similar crimes in Glendale and Burbank, dating back to 2021, including an incident that went viral after a woman posted a video of him sniffing her on TikTok.
The video shows Crowder bending down behind the woman as she perused bookshelves in a bookstore, claiming to 'tie his shoe' within inches of her.
Moments later, he is seen walking toward another woman in the store, doing much the same.
Around 3:30 p.m. on Friday, Glendale police got a call of a suspicious man who was allegedly trying to sniff people in a grocery store in the 1500 block of Glenoaks Boulevard.
Calls from a nearby Marshalls store also reported a man was attempting to sniff people.
Police reviewed surveillance footage from both stores and identified Crowder as the suspect.
In 2023, Crowder was arrested for peeping and prowling at a Glendale home.
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation records show that Crowder previously served time for a number of crimes, including possession of a controlled substance, burglary and robbery.
Most recently, he was jailed in July 2024 for attempted first-degree burglary.
Though he was sentenced to three years, he received pre-sentencing credit for time served and engaged in credit-earning opportunities while incarcerated, and he was released to parole supervision in June 2025.
Crowder remains in custody without bail to await his next hearing.
Framing: The headline emphasizes the serial nature of the 'butt sniffer' and his re-arrest for trying to smell people's bums in shops. — Sensationalist and informal
Facts Included:
Calese Crowder, 39, has a years-long history of committing sexual offences
Crowder was arrested twice in the space of a month last year for harassing women in California, USA
In 2021, Crowder was filmed crouching down behind a woman and apparently sniffing her rear in a viral clip
Crowder claimed he was 'tying his shoe' before carrying out a similar act on another woman in the book shop
On Friday afternoon, Glendale police were called to an incident involving a suspicious man allegedly trying to sniff customers in a grocery store on Glenoaks Boulevard
There were also calls from a nearby clothing shop following similar reports
Following a review of surveillance footage, police identified Crowder as a suspect and he was subsequently arrested for allegedly breaching his parole conditions
He will remain in custody until his hearing
An Airbnb host was found guilty of performing a sexual act on a vacuum cleaner in a gated community near Disney World last July
Kevin Westerhold, 51, was arrested after residents said he repeatedly wandered around shared spaces stark naked
Police say things escalated when two witnesses later spotted him outside a nearby property at the gated Windsor Hills Resort in Kissimmee, Florida, making improper use of the machine's suction function
The resort is a seven minute drive from Disneyworld
One shared photos and videos showing Westerhold 'pleasuring himself with a vacuum in broad daylight'
Another spotted Westerhold 'naked from the waist down' cavorting with the appliance outside a four-bedroom property owned by a female relative
In an arrest document, a detective said: 'The male then walked to the front door and stood in the threshold as he began to use a vacuum to masturbate.'
He continued to penetrate the handheld section of the vacuum before using it to suction his testicles for further sexual gratification
He added that two witnesses 'advised that the suspect was obviously committing these acts for his sexual pleasure as he visibly reacted to the stimulus as if he was becoming more engaged in the sexual acts.'
Cops say Westerhold also engaged in other illicit acts at a second vacation property
Neighbors told police that Westerhold was seen on 'multiple occasions' walking around the property 'entirely nude, wearing socks only, or wearing just a tank top.'
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Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status is Contested when two claims on this page negate each other; otherwise it counts the distinct outlets we found asserting that specific claim — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.
Claim
Confidence
Status
ClaimA 39-year-old man was arrested on Friday for violating his parole after allegedly trying to sniff people at stores in Glendale.
ClaimLast year, registered sex offender Calese Crowder was arrested two times in one month for allegedly harassing women by sniffing them, Burbank police said.
ClaimCrowder has a history of similar crimes in Glendale and Burbank, dating back to 2021, including an incident that went viral after a woman posted a video of him sniffing her on TikTok.
ClaimAround 3:30 p.m. on Friday, Glendale police got a call of a suspicious man who was allegedly trying to sniff people in a grocery store in the 1500 block of Glenoaks Boulevard.
ClaimCalifornia Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation records show that Crowder previously served time for a number of crimes, including possession of a controlled substance, burglary and robbery.
ClaimCrowder was sentenced to three years for the attempted burglary, but received pre-sentencing credit for time served and credit-earning opportunities while incarcerated, and was released to parole supervision in June 2025.
ClaimKevin Westerhold, 51, was arrested after residents said he repeatedly wandered around shared spaces stark naked at a gated community near Disney World.
ClaimPolice say things escalated when two witnesses later spotted Westerhold outside a nearby property at the gated Windsor Hills Resort in Kissimmee, Florida, making improper use of the machine's suction function.
ClaimAnother witness spotted Westerhold 'naked from the waist down' cavorting with the appliance outside a four-bedroom property owned by a female relative.
ClaimIn an arrest document, a detective said: 'The male then walked to the front door and stood in the threshold as he began to use a vacuum to masturbate. He continued to penetrate the handheld section of the vacuum before using it to suction his testicles for further sexual gratification.'
ClaimThe detective added that two witnesses 'advised that the suspect was obviously committing these acts for his sexual pleasure as he visibly reacted to the stimulus as if he was becoming more engaged in the sexual acts.'
ClaimNeighbors told police that Westerhold was seen on 'multiple occasions' walking around the property 'entirely nude, wearing socks only, or wearing just a tank top.'