Police search for alleged ‘Peeping Tom’ who struck at City Creek
Jun 11, 2018, 5:33 PM | Updated: Jun 12, 2018, 9:26 pm
Police have been looking for the man a shopper said took photos up her dress City Creek Center.
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Police have warned residents to be on the lookout for a “peeping tom” who has been accused of some pretty brazen behavior at a very public place.
A woman reported the man came up to her while she was shopping at the City Creek Center in downtown Salt Lake City Saturday and took a picture up her dress. She took to social media to make sure he gets caught.
“It made me angry. It made me wonder what else he has done, what else he is going to do,” said the woman. “I don’t want this to happen to anybody else.”
The woman wanted her identity hidden, but said she’s more mad than she was afraid. What she really wanted is for others to take a close look at the picture she snapped of the alleged suspect.
The woman and her husband were shopping when the incident happened. She was looking at a display of jeans inside an American Eagle Outfitters store. She said a man reached for a pair of jeans that she was standing over. When she looked down, she saw that his cell phone camera was pointed under her dress. She said she pulled away, in shock, and the man quickly walked away. While she tried to figure out what was really happening, the man allegedly did it to someone else.
“He followed a woman to the back of the store, and with her back turned, he knelt by her, pretending to look at some clothes while he reached a camera underneath her dress and took a picture,” said the woman.
The woman and her husband quickly told employees, who alerted security. They tried to stop him, but he ran away. The woman also filed a police report but she didn’t stop there. She posted the man’s picture on Facebook. At last check, it had been shared more than 1600 times.
“Not that I wanted to be victimized, but if that meant that I could put his face out there so that he could be caught, then that’s what needed to happen,” she said.
Police said it may have worked.
“We’ve identified who we believe is the person who was in the store at the time,” said Sgt. Brandon Shearer with the Salt Lake City Police Department. “We’d just like to talk to him and get his story.”
Even though police believe they have identified the man in the photo, they have asked anyone with information to contact them. They also said if anything like this happens to you, call 911 emergency dispatchers and get police there as quickly as possible.
American Eagle released a statement saying:
Ensuring that our customers feel safe and comfortable while shopping in our stores is a top priority of American Eagle Outfitters. We are working with the local authorities as they investigate the incident reported at our City Creek store.
