Repeat Offender Charged After 'Inappropriate Sniffing'

A man has been arrested after being caught on camera “inappropriately sniffing” a woman at a California department store.

According to a news release from the Burbank police department, officers responded on Tuesday afternoon to a report of a “suspicious individual loitering in the women’s department” at the Nordstrom Rack on North Victory Place. The suspect, 38-year-old Callese Caron Crowder, left the store when officers arrived. He was later tracked to a WalMart in the nearby Empire Shopping Center, where he was placed under arrest.

“Using [Nordstrom’s] surveillance system, officers monitored the suspect as he moved through various departments,” the news release explained. “While in the women’s section, the suspect was observed following a female customer, crouching near her, and engaging in lewd behavior by inappropriately sniffing her buttocks.”

The Burbank Police Department warned the public that Crowder is a registered sex offender who has “a documented history of similar arrests for lewd conduct in both Glendale and Burbank dating back to 2021.” In fact, Crowder is something of a social media celebrity, having gone viral back in 2023 when TikToker Michaela Witter posted a video which seemed to show Crowder bending down and pretending to tie his shoe while trying to sniff her buttocks at a Barnes and Noble in Burbank. After she posted the video, other women contacted Witter claiming that Crowder committed similar acts against them at local Urban Outfitters and Marshalls stores.

Crowder has been charged with one count of loitering with intent to commit a crime. His bail has been set at $100,000 and he’s scheduled to appear before a judge on August 1. The department is asking anyone who might have information about this case or others possibly involving Crowder to immediately contact the Burbank Police Department’s Investigations Division at (818) 238-3210.