Police Working To ID Hundreds Of Women In Secretly Recorded Videos
LAKE WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) - The investigation into a suspect who has been accused of secretly recording a woman in a dressing room has led to the discovery of hundreds of secretly recorded videos. Alexander Martinez, 32, is now charged with Invasive Visual Recording.
The Lake Worth Police Department said that a female shopper at the Target store located in the 6600 block of Lake Worth Boulevard filed a complaint after realizing that the suspect was recording her while she was changing. "She was shocked, confused. Who would do this, you know? She had little ones in there, too," said Det. Richard Martinez.
The woman reacted in surprise and the suspect, police said, ran away. A week later, though, he returned, and alert Target employees called police. Officers arrested the suspect and, after obtaining a warrant, searched his cell phone and other devices found at his home.
What they discovered left even them stunned.
"I've been in law enforcement almost 30 years and I've never seen anything like this," said Det. Martinez. "There's hundreds of women being violated."
Police said that the suspect shot video up the skirts of women and teenagers. "He'll put the phone down recording and then just slide it with his shoes," said Det. Martinez. There are videos dating back to 2011 taken inside Galleria Dallas, North East Mall in Hurst, Walmart stores and Hooters restaurants, among other locations.
Some recordings of women in changing rooms were taken over the tops of stalls with selfie sticks. Other show women in their own homes. "It's peeping into windows at night," Det. Martinez said, "where you can see women walking around in their homes or bedrooms."
The videos don't stop there. "It scares me, because it escalates," said Det. Martinez.
Several videos, Det. Martinez said, show the suspect in physical contact with apparent victims. Police, though, need to find the women to learn, for certain, whether the videos were taken without consent, before filing further charges. In most cases, it appears clear that the women never realized that they were being recorded.
"There's some where they're standing next to their husband or their boyfriend, and that's how bold this guy was getting, because he doesn't care," said Det. Martinez.
The suspect has already bonded out of jail on the charge against him. Investigators are asking anyone who thinks that they may be a victim to contact the Lake Worth Police Department.
