Stalker ‘alarmed’ singer Crow

GRAMMY-WINNING rock star Sheryl Crow told a court an encounter with a former navy diver charged with stalking her made her feel “really nervous” and “alarmed”.

Testifying in the trial of Ambrose Kappos, 38, Ms Crow said she also feared for the safety of family members after the defendant showed up at her father’s office and repeatedly called her sister.

The singer said that she had seen him only once, standing outside her dressing room on October 6, 2003, as she left the Hammerstein Ballroom, but had never met or spoken to him.

“I thought it strange that someone would be outside the dressing room who was not supposed to be there,” Ms Crow said.

Minutes after leaving the building, she said, Kappos approached her group.

“I was headed into the limo and suddenly there’s chaos and I was pushed into the car, and my manager was telling someone, ‘Back away! Back away!”’

Kappos said to her, “Hi, I’m Ambrose” before he was hustled away, Ms Crow testified. “I was alarmed, more than anything else,” she said.

“We drove away, and that’s when Pam Wertheimer (a member of her management team) told me who ‘Ambrose’ was,” Ms Crow testified.

As Ms Crow spoke, Kappos, who is free on bail, watched her intently, sometimes smiling faintly.

Kappos is being tried on charges of burglary and stalking. Prosecutors say he pursued Ms Crow from July 2002 until his arrest the night Ms Crow saw him. If convicted, he could face over seven years in prison.

After his arrest, Kappos told police and prosecutors on videotape that the word “fan” was inadequate to describe his attraction to Ms Crow. He said he was a “spiritual twin”, and that he and the pop rocker were destined to marry and have children.

The singer’s father said when Kappos showed up at his offices he was in his navy dress whites, “a spit and polish sailor” who made a good impression.