The man charged in an alleged hate crime involving “Today” co-host Craig Melvin at NBC’s Manhattan studio has a criminal history that stretches back at least 20 years, with prior cases that include attempted kidnapping and trespassing, court records show.
Andrew Truelove, 41, was arrested by New York City police last week after NBC said he slipped into a vestibule near Studio 1A at Rockefeller Center and approached Melvin.
Video reviewed from the broadcast shows a man who appears to match Truelove’s appearance and clothing visible in the background as early as 8:03 a.m. on the day of the incident. Two minutes later, the man was seen removing a backpack and appearing to place it in or behind a bush outside the building. He appeared on camera several more times through 8:34 a.m., as actress Anne Hathaway was on set discussing her role in the newest adaptation of “The Odyssey.”
Andrew Truelove was arrested after allegedly entering NBC’s Rockefeller Center studios during a live broadcast of the “Today” show and shouting racist slurs at co-host Craig Melvin. Authorities initially said he had been looking for Al Roker. Security officers intervened quickly, and police took him into custody. (Kevin C. Downs/Redux)
Police said Truelove was arrested at 8:57 a.m. after he allegedly confronted Melvin with a racial slur in a private section of the building that is not open to the public.
Authorities said he was allegedly searching for Al Roker before encountering Melvin instead.
Truelove was accused in October 2007 of attempting to abduct an 8-year-old from a school in Norfolk, Virginia. Court records show he was convicted at trial and received a 10-year prison sentence, with six years suspended, followed by 10 years of probation.
A man resembling the suspect in the racial attack on “Today” co-host Craig Melvin appears in the background of the show on the morning of the July 16, 2026, incident at Rockefeller Center in New York. (“Today”/NBC)
A psychiatrist testified he had symptoms of bipolar disorder and had stopped taking medications after gaining more than 100 pounds prior to the incident, according to The Virginian-Pilot.
Truelove has an extensive rap sheet in the state of Virginia, where court records show he was also accused of trespassing, destruction of property, making bomb threats and multiple probation violations.
In 2023, he served 90 days in jail for the property destruction case. In 2014, he was arrested on charges of stealing signs from memorials dedicated to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims.
Craig Melvin at the live performance of Megan Moroney on the Today Plaza as part of the Citi Concert Series on NBC’s Today Show on July 10, 2026 in New York City. (Dinara Khairova/Sipa USA)
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He faces hate crime charges of burglary, a felony, and menacing, a misdemeanor, in connection with the Melvin incident.
“An individual entered an unauthorized area in a vestibule near Studio 1A,” a “Today” spokesperson said in a statement. “The person approached anchor Craig Melvin, who alerted security. The individual was detained and taken into custody by law enforcement without further incident. There was no altercation, and no one was injured. TODAY is cooperating fully with law enforcement as they investigate the matter. NBC and TODAY take the safety and security of our employees, talent, staff and guests extremely seriously. We are reviewing the incident and our security protocols and remain committed to providing a safe and secure environment for everyone who works at and visits our studios.”
Court records in New York show man with the same name and age as Truelove has additional pending cases in connection with an alleged assault in the NYPD’s 5th Precinct in January, trespassing and reckless endangerment charges on the city’s transit system from May — and a 12-count criminal mischief indictment from last year.
He’s now being held on $10,000 bail in a New York City jail.
Melvin’s colleague, Savannah Guthrie, is the daughter of missing Nancy Guthrie, whose Feb. 1 disappearance remains unsolved. She is believed to have been abducted from her home after Nest video shows a masked intruder on her front steps in the Catalina Foothills of northern Tucson, Arizona.
Anyone with information on that case is asked to call 1-800-FBI or 520-88-CRIME.
With no arrests or publicly identified suspects in the Guthrie case, some web sleuths have pondered a potential connection. However, Truelove has not been linked to the abduction by any law enforcement agency, and he does not match the physical description of a masked man seen on Guthrie’s front porch around the time she was taken.
These two images were released by the FBI, recovered from Nancy Guthrie’s Nest doorbell camera. It’s unclear whether they show the same person. (FBI)
New York jail records list Truelove as about 6 feet tall and 250 pounds. The masked intruder has been described by the FBI as 5 feet, 9 inches to 5 feet, 10 inches tall with an average build.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department and FBI did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Truelove has reportedly traveled through the Sonoran Desert region, according to a 2023 profile in the Los Angeles Times that focused on his bout with homelessness on the West Coast after getting off of probation in Virginia.
It was not immediately clear when he arrived in New York City.
Truelove is due back in court Wednesday.
