'Starbucks Peeper' William Zafra Velasco Busted For Allegedly Secretly Videotaping Women in Coffee Shop Bathroom in Glendora, Cops Say

By Dennis Romero Thu., May 19 2011 at 4:29 PM

Categories: Crime

starbucks.com

A generic photo of Starbucks in action.

Oh boy, this story only gets better. Police now claim the alleged Starbucks Peeper stalked a young woman and stole her panties. Details at the bottom of the next page.

Perhaps the biggest indignity for you if you allegedly installed a video camera in a Starbucks women's restroom wouldn't be the jail time you might get, or the fact that you need images of women peeing and defecating to satisfy your reptilian urges, but the nickname that will forever more be bestowed upon you:

The Starbucks Peeper. That's right. In the annals of crime, it just doesn't match up to the Jack the Ripper or even the Granny Bandit.

Hope those (alleged) two days worth of intimate toilet shots were worth it. Police this week ID'd the suspect as ...

... 25-year-old San Dimas resident William Zafra Velasco.

Glendora PD

This guy (allegedly).

Police allege that Velasco placed a hidden video inside the ladies' room at the Starbucks store at 1832 E. Route 66 in Glendora.

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A Starbucks employee discovered the device after only two days of recording and called the cops.

Glendora PD

The restroom in question.

The camera was disguised to look like a coat hook, Glendora police say.

Glendora PD

Velasco was arrested after a search warrant was served on his home earlier this month. Cops say they found "disturbing" video on his computer that corresponds to the bathroom footage.

(We would presume the alleged find would be less disturbing than gross).

Velasco has been charged with "secretly videotaping victims for sexual gratification," according to the Glendora PD's statement.

Cops note that ...

... these hidden recording devices have proliferated in recent years due to improved technology, cheaper costs, and can be hidden just about anywhere and disguised as anything, such as a clock or light fixture.

The suspect made bail, set at $50,000, and is scheduled to appear in court June 21.

Here's the thing: Authorities want 34 unidentified victims to come forward. (Eleven others have already been ID'd, they say). The recording happened April 14 and 15.

Glendora investigators want you to call them (626-914-8250) if you or anyone you know might have used that Starbucks restroom those days.

They're going to hold a press conference about the arrest and subsequent search for victims on Friday, and Glendora Police Chief Rob Castro and local state Assemblyman Tim Donnelly are scheduled to be there.

Update: Glendora police announced Thursday that Velasco also allegedly ...

... stalked a 21-year-old local female college student for several days, and then broke into her apartment and stole some of her underwear. During a search warrant of Velasco's residence, Glendora detectives located women's underwear sealed in individual plastic baggies.

They claim this happened in the weeks before the camera was found. It's worth repeating that the guy allegedly kept his treasure individually wrapped -- to lock in the freshness.

Super creepy (allegedly).

It's not clear if cops will recommend additional charges. The news conference is still on for tomorrow.

First posted at 8:08 a.m. on Wednesday, May 18.

[@dennisjromero/djromero@laweekly.com]

Tags:

bathroom, Glendora, Glendora police, hidden camera, peeper, San Gabriel Valley, Starbucks, Starbucks peeper

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VigVee

Wow, you would think he would have been smart enough to use whole disk encryption.

www.privacy-online.us.tc

thejessta

I've been to that Starbucks. What an exterior!

YoureDumb

what an exterior? Why are you remarking on the outsides?

Ddd

I don't know how they caught him, unless police put their own camera in the bathroom and waited for him to pick his up. Which makes me think that the police were doing the same thing as the perpetrator. Hmmm...

Mr X

Rather than make up some stupid conspiracy theory/rumor about the police - if you bothered to get your news from a source staffed by actual journalists, you would know an employee found the camera when they noticed the hook as being out of place. The employees reported it and the cops caught the perp downloading the video feed from the camera to his laptop in the Starbucks parking lot.

But it is so much easier to stay uninformed and make things up.

Kuei

"noticed the hook as being out of place"?!?

A coat hook is out of place when? I was thinking the same thing as Ddd.How did they find it. It would be extremely hard to detect something like that. But, I guessed that starbucks already had their own camera in place so they could view illicit activities where people generally meet to engage in illegal acts. Starbucks is where alot of drugs transactions occur because many people just sitting around go unnoticed.

GarethB

Are you kidding me? Obviously the employee who works there, who shits and pisses in there tons of times and possibly even cleans it - would surely notice such a thing. Jesus Christ people, use some common sense - it's their workplace

RolloverRiderPGR

Not hard to figure out. They are EMPLOYEES and maybe have cleaned that bathroom many times and noticed that new thing stuck to the door and went.... HEY? Where did this thing come from and why does it have a small lens in it? HMMMM Maybe we need to call the cops. Not all fast food employees are brain deaders like many think they are!