Bay Shore Grad Accused Of Placing Cam In HS Bathroom ID'd As Pro Gamer

BAY SHORE, NY — An 18-year-old accused of placing a camera inside a Bay Shore High School bathroom is a pro gamer with millions of followers on social media, where he streamed videos playing games such as Minecraft.

Daniel Garcia, otherwise known as "Vrax" pleaded not guilty to unlawful surveillance on Nov. 25.

As a student, the Bay Shore High School graduate signed a contract with NRG Esports, a Los Angeles based professional esports organization, and Microsoft, Newsday reported.

Garcia currently has more than 2.8 million followers on TikTok, 26,000 subscribers on YouTube, 35,100 followers on Twitch, where he published and streamed videos playing games such as Minecraft.

In July, he was chosen by Uconnect Esports as one of eight college students to attend TwitchCon in San Diego, a convention that focuses on the general culture of livestreaming and video gaming.

Diego Awooga, a fellow gamer and YouTuber, said that Garcia is a prominent within the online gaming community. The two first met at a convention in April, Awooga said.

"He was just someone everyone knew," he said.

Awooga told Patch that he and other gamers were surprised to hear the news of Garcia's charges.

"In private, a lot of people have just been shocked and very disappointed, a lot of which were people that were close with Vrax, myself included," Awooga said. "You never really expect that to happen to a friend of yours."

Patch has reached out to NRG Esports and Microsoft for comment. Patch also reached out to Garcia's attorney, Laqaun London, multiple times.

He is due back in court on January 20, 2023.