Brandon Starbucks Video Voyeur Arrest Similar to Case in California

Update: The man accused of placing a hidden camera in a restroom at a Westfield Brandon Starbucks has been found dead in a hotel room in Punta Gorda. Detective Larry McKinnon reported that foul play is not suspected in the June 12 death of Eric Arthur Efaw, whose death was reported to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office by the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office. The case remains “an open death investigation.”  

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The "Peeping Tom" case that led to the arrest of a Riverview man is not an isolated incident, according to an Internet search yielding reports on similar incidents nationwide, including a recent case in Glendora, Calif.

According to a KABC-TV Los Angeles report, a 25-year-old, unemployed male student was arrested after two search warrants were served May 4. He was arrested no suspicion of placing hidden audio/video recording equipment in the women's restroom at a Starbucks in Glendora.

Locally, Eric Arthur Efaw, 44, of 7305 Forest Mere Drive, Riverview, was arrested June 8 and charged with voyeurism after deputies identified him as the suspect who placed the camera found May 31 under a sink in a unisex Starbucks restroom.

The restroom was in the Starbucks in the south end of  the Westfield Brandon shopping mall, adjacent to Dick's Sporting Goods.

According to a Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office report, Efaw had the camera on when he walked to his car and opened his trunk, showing his license plate.

In the California case, William Velasco allegedly installed "the device, disguised as a coat-hook, directly across the toilet in the women's restroom" and then downloaded "content remotely from his car ever two hours to his laptop computer," according to the news report.

Attributed to the  Glendora Police in the California report was notice that state Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, representing California's 59th Assembly District, had been expected to announce his sponsorship of proposed legislation that would increase the penalties for this type of crime from misdemeanor to felony status.

A May 24 report posted at ABS.CBNnews.com noted that the Pinoy "Peeping Tom" case had, indeed, inspired Donnelly (R-CA), to say he would author abill to classify "Peeping Tom" cases as a felony, with or without minors involved, and would require a sex offender registration.

As it stood, Velasco, was facing a misdemeanor for filming unknowing victims, a crime that would become a felony if minors were involved.

For details on the Brandon case, read the Brandon Patch article,