Cops: Store worker put camera in restroom
Exterior of Elements Distinctive Lighting and Home Furnishings, where a Carle Place employee, Wilson Lopez, 24, was arrested and charged with placing a surveillance camera in the women's restroom, police said. (Dec. 15, 2011) Credit: Jim Staubitser
He told police he had "a crush" on a co-worker.
So, Nassau County police said, Wilson Lopez, 24, bought a camera for $20 on eBay and positioned it in the women's restroom at the Carle Place lighting store where he worked -- so he could see the woman "in a state" of undress.
But Lopez also unwittingly captured footage of himself putting the camera in place last month. And Thursday morning he was arrested by police, after the camera was discovered -- and the manager of the lighting store, Elements on Glen Cove Road, recognized him.
Lopez, of Robin Lane, Levittown, was charged with two counts second-degree unlawful surveillance. He was arraigned Thursday at First District Court in Hempstead and given a $21,000 bond or $10,000 cash bail. He is due back in court Monday.
Det. Lt. Raymond Cote said the camera was discovered Tuesday by a locksmith who was doing work at the store.
It was on a wooden bench across from the toilet, police said, hidden among cleaning supplies and rolls of toilet paper. It was pointed directly at the toilet, Cote said.
Police said Lopez, who had worked as a stock boy at the store for about a year, was fired as soon as he was identified by the manager, who contacted police. Police said the surveillance camera captured an image of the woman just once. Cote said no one else was videotaped.
Police said the footage was mostly a dark screen, until the bathroom light was turned on.
Police said the camera had been installed Nov. 30.
He recorded the co-worker the first time he set up the camera and recorded himself the second -- and final -- time, police said. The camera records for about an hour, so he had to set it up, let it record for an hour and set it up again, police said.
