Glendale police arrested 39-year-old Calese Carron Crowder on Friday after two businesses reported a man behaving suspiciously toward customers, including allegations he was sniffing people.
Officers responded to the area at around 3:30 p.m. Friday. A witness reported seeing a man “hunkered down” and approaching people to smell them, according to a report by mynewsla.com. Police were also called to a nearby clothing store near South Brand Boulevard and East Broadway over a similar complaint. Reviewing surveillance footage from that store, officers identified Crowder as the man allegedly involved in the sniffing behavior.
Crowder has a lengthy record of similar arrests across Los Angeles County. In July 2025, he was arrested after police received reports of a man loitering at a department store in Burbank.
Prior Burbank Arrest
According to a Burbank Police Department press release, officers had responded to a report of a suspicious individual inside the Nordstrom Rack at 1601 North Victory Place. Store employees told officers the man had already left, prompting a search of nearby businesses.
Officers located Crowder inside a nearby Walmart, where they used the store’s surveillance system to track him through the women’s department. According to police, he was seen following a female customer, then crouching behind her and sniffing her buttocks. Officers detained him after witnessing the behavior on the video feed.
Long History With Local Police
Authorities say Crowder is a registered sex offender on active parole, with a history known to police in both Burbank and Glendale that includes peeping, prowling and residential burglary. In August 2023, he was the subject of a viral TikTok video showing him crouching behind a woman in a Barnes & Noble bookstore and appearing to sniff her buttocks.
The Glendale Police Department says Crowder’s record dates back further. He was arrested in June 2011 for a series of peeping incidents and residential burglaries in the city, and was convicted and sentenced to eight years in prison. He was also suspected in several reported cases of peeping and burglary between 2020 and 2021, and Glendale police arrested him again in September 2021 on charges of prowling and disorderly conduct.
As of Monday, Crowder was being held without bond, facing charges of violating the terms of his parole.
