Starbucks Has a Peeping Tom Problem
After similar incidents this summer in Florida and California, now Connecticut is the latest state to fall victim to hidden cameras placed inside Starbucks bathrooms by overcaffeinated voyeurs.
This time, the camera was in a men's room in a West Harford Starbucks, and was discovered by a 57-year-old plumber named Rafael Zeligzon whilst fiddling with the pipes (literally) in an attempt to get the hot water working again. There he found a cellphone-sized, sound-activated digital video recorder. He took it home with him after Starbucks staff told them they were "too busy" to hear him out.
Zeligzon downloaded the contents of the camera on his computer...There were 18 files in the camera with good-quality sound, Zeligzon said. The images showed men using the bathroom, their genitals, buttocks and, in some cases, their faces visible.
Zeligzon then brought the camera back to the Starbucks, who contacted the police. They traced it back to Paul Deveau, 51, who was arraigned on Thursday in Hartford Superior Court on 12 counts of voyeurism. He's currently out on $100,000 bail. Zeligzon, meanwhile, saw the desktop and portable computers he uses to run his business confiscated by police for their investigation. In light of his perv-nabbing Samaritanism, he sent a letter to Starbucks asking them for a little help:
"It is a great financial hardship to be deprived of my computer for an indefinite period of time. In light of my good deed which prevented further violations of privacy of your customers, I am requesting that you provide me with a replacement laptop."
The company hasn't responded. "Not even a phone call," Zeligzon says. "It hurts." [Hartford Courant]