Reports: US clothing store worker accused of secretly photographing woman in changing rooms

A Pittsburgh man is accused of using a hidden camera to take pictures of a woman who was in a dressing room where he was an employee at a Gap store, according to news reports.

The incident took place on Sept 17 at a Gap store located on Walnut Street in Shadyside. The suspect, 24-year-old Jimmy Almaraz, worked at the clothing store for just three days prior.

The woman was using the dressing room inside the basement level of the store when she spotted a cellphone come from under the door to the room multiple times.

The store’s inside camera footage captured Almaraz going down the steps heading towards the area several times, and additional footage captured him taking out his phone from his pocket each time.

The woman then reported the incident to the store manager and police.

Almaraz denied taking pictures of the woman when questioned by authorities, who seized his phone and discovered that it had been “remotely wiped”, KDKA reported.

But, suspecting that the video footage was saved on another device, authorities obtained a search warrant for Almaraz’s apartment. While there, five cellphones, two laptops, two tablets, three USB drives and an external hard drive were seized, WPXI said.

Also discovered were Google searches. On the night of the incident, Almaraz searched, “charges for videotaping customer without consent in changing room in Pennsylvania,” “Is it Illegal to Record Someone Without Their Permission,” and “video recording customers try rooms criminal charges penalty in pa,” KDKA said.

Since then, an arrest warrant was issued for Almaraz such charges as attempted invasion of privacy to photograph someone without their consent, tampering with evidence, and possessing instruments of a crime.

Almaraz not been taken into custody yet. it’s unclear if he’s still employed at the Gap store location, both news outlets reported.

“When you go in a dressing room you don’t really expect someone to be watching you undress. I mean, I never think about it when I’m changing and trying on clothes at a store, you just expect to feel safe,” shopper Paige Sharifi said to WPXI. – pennlive.com/Tribune News Service