A Taylor Swift fan accused of jumping on stage during the pop star’s concert in San Diego last year and injuring a security team member will go to trial, a judge has ruled.
At a preliminary hearing Wednesday for Christian Ewing, 27, San Diego Police described the Aug. 29, 2015 night when Ewing jumped a fence and ran onto the stage, just steps away from the singer as she performed her hit, “Style.” The incident was captured on video by concertgoers.
Before Ewing hopped on stage, investigators said a security told him he couldn’t be in that part of the concert venue and tried to escort him out. Ewing allegedly ran away toward the stage, struggling with the pop star’s security guards.
SDPD Officer John Clayton, who was at the concert the night of the incident, testified that he was a his post when he saw Ewing jump a barricade, and, later, hop on stage.
When Clayton asked Ewing jump on stage, Clayton testified that "He (Ewing) said, 'I love that girl."
Ewing said the same statement in a previous court hearing.
Eventually, he was dragged off the stage. Prosecutors said one of Swift’s security guards suffered rib injuries in the altercation from which he had eight weeks of recovery.
When Ewing was arrested, he allegedly gave police officers a fake name - using a combination of the names of the officers he had interacted with that night, Clayton and SDPD Officer David Wolff testified.
San Diego Sheriff's County Deputy Francis Gardener, who works out of the San Diego County Jail, also testified in court Wednesday regarding an incident involving Ewing.
She testified that Ewing told officials there was an inmate in medical distress, but when authorities came to check on the inmate, they found no one was injured.
"When I first saw him, he was refusing to use his wristband and said his name was Wolff," Gardener testified.
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Ewing then pushed the door open and tried to escape the cell, Gardener testified. A deputy was able to restrain him, but Ewing pushed the deputy and continued to try and escape.
When authorities restrained him again, she testified, he was violently kicking around.
The deputy involved was injured as a result, she testified.
Prosecutors said Ewing has a criminal history. At the time of the San Diego concert incident, he had an active warrant out of Florida for a theft-related offense and an assault-related offense in Georgia.
Following the preliminary hearing, a judge bound over the case for trail. The trail is set to begin on Feb. 16, with a readiness on Feb. 8.
