Santa Ana City Intern Accused Of Taping Men In Bathrooms With Cell Phone
SANTA ANA (CBS) — An investigation was continuing Tuesday into a Santa Ana Public Works Department intern who allegedly videotaped men using a City Hall bathroom.
Miguel Ruiz Fabian, 23, was arrested Friday on suspicion of using his cell phone to videotape men using a third-floor bathroom of the Public Works Department in City Hall, 20 Civic Center Plaza. He also allegedly used his camera at least once on the Cal Poly Pomona campus and at a restroom at Mile Square Regional Park in Fountain Valley, Santa Ana police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna said.
A city employee using the men's room in City Hall Friday "saw something odd on the floor, grabs it and it's a phone and he's being recorded," Bertagna said.
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The city employee recognized Fabian in a stall next to the one he was using and confronted him about the phone, Bertagna said. Fabian demanded the phone back but the city employee refused and took it to police, Bertagna said.
Santa Ana police have sent the phone -- as well as Fabian's personal and work computers -- to a lab in Orange so investigators can mine the devices for more evidence, Bertagna said.
The phone allegedly has 64 videos of men using the bathroom in City Hall, and of those, 22 of the men are city employees, Bertagna said. Police were working to identify each of the men in the videos and to determine if the videos were made without their permission, Bertagna said.
"As it stands now these are 64 misdemeanors," Bertagna said.
But if the suspect sent the videos to himself or anyone else, Fabian could be charged with a felony, Bertagna said. If he posted any of the videos online, it could also lead to felony charges, Bertagna added.
One of the videos was made Thursday in the library bathroom on Cal Poly Pomona's campus, where Fabian is studying engineering, Bertagna said.
Another video was taken April 21 on the west side of Mile Square Regional Park's bathroom near the handball courts, Bertagna said.
"He says he has been doing it since December of last year," Bertagna said.
Fabian has bailed out of Santa Ana's jail and no charges have been filed yet.
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