A registered sex offender nicknamed the “Butt Sniffer” was arrested again Friday after Glendale police said security video showed him bending down behind shoppers at two businesses.
Calese Crowder, 39, was taken into custody in the 100 block of South Brand Boulevard on suspicion of a parole violation and was being held without bail, police told NBC4 Investigates.
Two Glendale stores reported a man acting suspiciously and crouching near people, authorities said. Officers reviewed surveillance footage from both locations and identified Crowder as the suspect.
Law enforcement sources told NBC4 one of the businesses was a Marshalls. Around the same time, a grocery store in the 1500 block of Glenoaks Boulevard called 911 to report a customer bending down behind people and attempting to sniff them, the sources said.
The investigation is ongoing. Police said the case will be submitted to prosecutors for possible criminal charges.
Crowder has a documented history of similar complaints in Glendale and Burbank dating to 2021, according to police.
In July 2025, he was arrested at a Burbank Nordstrom Rack after reports of someone roaming the women’s department and sexually harassing a female customer, Burbank police said. He was arrested again the following month after allegedly sniffing a woman’s behind inside a Burbank Walgreens.
Crowder was arrested Nov. 24, 2025, after failing to meet an annual sex-offender registration requirement for more than two months. Glendale police’s Assaults Unit took him into custody at his residence. He was on parole at the time for a burglary conviction.
In December, he was sentenced to 99 days in jail for a parole violation. He was back before a judge in April and sentenced to 105 days in jail for additional parole violations.
Crowder remains a registered sex offender. Police have previously described a pattern of alleged lewd conduct in retail stores, including following female shoppers, crouching behind them and attempting to sniff them. Investigators have previously asked anyone who believes they may have been a victim to contact local police.
