Chad Michael Busto, the man who delivered a disturbing message to Drew Barrymore from the crowd at a 92nd Street Y event in New York earlier this week, has been arrested on suspicion of stalking.
The 43-year-old Washington, D.C. resident was arrested Thursday at 11:59 p.m. local time by Southampton City Police and faces a fourth-degree misdemeanor stalking charge, according to a news release sent by Lieutenant Todd. Spencer, the official spokesperson for the ministry. Busto is being held overnight and is due to appear at Southampton City Court of Justice for the morning hearing.
The arrest comes just a day after Bosto was detained by Southampton Police after a call to 911 regarding a suspicious person in Sagaponack Village, Southampton borough. Busto allegedly rode a bicycle in the private lanes, telling area residents he was looking for Barrymore’s residence on Wednesday. Officers detained him briefly the same day for questioning, then released him.
As part of a follow-up investigation, the Detective Department was notified of Busto’s conduct, which, along with previous incidents, “led to facts substantiating a charge of stalking,” according to a department spokesperson. A wanted leaflet was distributed to nearby agencies as part of the investigation, and on Thursday afternoon, Easthampton City Police located Busto and took him into custody before handing him over to Southampton City Police to process the arrest.
On Monday night, Barrymore was escorted off stage at a 92nd Street Y event tied to the release of new music by fellow actress Renee Rabe, which was held as part of the Recanati-Kaplan Talks series. Just minutes after Barrymore and Rapp took their seats onstage in the Upper East Side event area, Busto shouted the talk show host’s name before briskly walking down the aisle toward the front of the stage.
After Barrymore, whose vision has been impaired, gave a quick salutation while looking out at the crowd, Busto replied, “You know who I am. I need to see you sometime while I’m in New York.” Rabe quickly stood up and walked past Barrymore before putting her arm around the actress and escorting her Offstage A member of the venue’s security team then removed Busto, who was then in the front row of the auditorium, from the stage.
After the commotion, Rapp and Barrymore returned to the stage and briefly referred to the incident before continuing with the planned event. “I have a new definition of your body. It’s this level of protection,” Barrymore said in response to Rap’s quick action. “Well, what were we talking about?”
No reports have been made regarding the incident, which occurred Monday night, according to the New York Police Department.
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