Police are investigating an incident at a southern California Starbucks that started when a 5-year-old boy discovered he was being secretly video-recorded inside the restroom.
The boy’s mother said her son had just used the bathroom at the Lancaster coffee shop Thursday morning when he gestured toward the sink and asked, “Mommy, why is there a phone under there?”
The woman discovered that a cellphone had been “propped up” beneath the sink by paper towels and was positioned with its camera facing the toilet, KTLA News in Los Angeles reported.
“My skin kind of began to crawl,” she told the network.
She immediately alerted store employees, who in turn called the authorities, KTLA reported.
“The deputies discovered that the cellphone was running in a video-recording motion,” Lancaster Sheriff’s Station Lt. Joseph Fender told the news station.
Law enforcement officials did not immediately say how much had been captured by the cellphone, but said they had obtained surveillance camera footage that may help identify the person who placed the recording device inside the restroom.
“We are disturbed by this incident and take our obligation to provide a safe environment for our customers and [employees] very seriously,” Starbucks spokesman Jaime Riley told KTLA. “Our store partners took swift action as soon as they became aware of the incident by immediately alerting the Sheriff’s Department of the situation.”
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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