Sears Peeping Tom Suspect Said to Have Used Up to 60 Cameras

North Hollywood, CAThe miniature video camera with which The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo secretly filmed her antagonist in the movie of the same name is commonplace these days, as miniaturization gets more sophisticated and prevalent. It is this perpetual shrinking of things like computer chips and cameras that allowed the Sears Peeping Tom suspect to allegedly ply his trade against unsuspecting patrons.

The Daily News of Los Angeles (5/11/12) reports that suspect Alejandro Gamiz, 27, undertook his spying by way of an array of miniature cameras described in the report as nothing less than "sophisticated," triggered by motion sensors and linked to a series of laptop computers which recorded the activity during store hours when patrons were in the building.

The suspect, now widely known in the media as the Sears Peeping Tom, would allegedly download the Sears secret videotape from his laptop(s) after hours when the store was closed and bereft of customers. Gamiz worked as a maintenance worker for the facility, located in North Hollywood.

What Gamiz allegedly did with the downloaded footage, said to involve only women as the cameras were set up in a collection of women's washrooms and change rooms, remains unknown. Such allegations form the basis of a Sears Peeping Tom lawsuit for many patrons upset over the secret filming.

To that end, parents of children who might also have been videotaped in the assumed privacy of a washroom or change room without their knowledge are devastated—as is anyone who may have patronized the store during the time the cameras were in use.

One Sears employee has been talking to a lawyer about a Sears employee lawsuit, given the activity would have affected employees and patrons alike. What's even more disturbing are allegations that Sears may have been aware of the clandestine activity for a period of time, but delayed a response until it sought legal agreements from employees. Sears has countered the legal document in question was a national initiative distributed store-wide and was in circulation long before the videotaping came to light.

Not knowing where the images wound up is a huge issue for most patrons and employees who suspect they were surreptitiously filmed. Beyond that is the simple knowledge they might have had their privacy breached—and possibly that of their children. Such a realization could have life-long emotional consequences and drive many patrons to file a Sears customer lawsuit. The implications for Sears could be substantial.

They could be equally substantial for the suspect in the Sears Peeping Tom case. According to reports, Gamiz was arraigned May 11th—two days before Mother's Day—on 30 counts of peeping into a change room with the intention of invading an individual's privacy and 30 counts of using a concealed video recording device inside a change room. If convicted, he could face up to six months in jail and / or a $1,000 fine for each count. If Gamiz is made to face the full consequence under the law, he could spend 30 years in jail and face a fine of $60,000.

The cost to Sears could be more grievous were any customer, who frequented a washroom or change room at the facility during the three years Gamiz is alleged to have carried out his clandestine activities, to file a Sears lawsuit.