Man Charged With Filming in Clothing Store Restroom

A South End man was arraigned yesterday on charges he filmed a stranger in the bathroom of a clothing store, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

Rocco Collela, 30, was arraigned in Boston Municipal Court on a charge of videotaping an unsuspecting person in the nude in connection with the February incident near Downtown Crossing.

Boston Police on Feb. 26 were called to Marshalls on Washington Street, where a 25-year-old Southborough man reported that while using the store’s restroom he observed an individual kneeling in an adjacent stall and recording the victim with a phone. When the victim shouted, the individual fled.

Officers searched the area but were not able to locate the suspect.

Marshalls security staff contacted Boston Police again on March 9 to report that the man had returned to the store, where he spent about 45 minutes in the men’s room. A security guard followed him to a nearby gym where officers questioned the man identified as Collela and seized his phone after he admitted to filming the victim.

Collela was released on his own recognizance Thursday with orders to stay away from the location of the offense.

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