On Sunday, August 9, a 35-year-old woman who was visiting Beverly’s Restaurant, located at 7401 Gulf Boulevard, was recorded on a cellphone by a St. Petersburg man while using the restroom.
Pinellas County Sheriff’s Deputies assigned to the Patrol Operations Bureau have arrested 18-year-old Bryan Lara after he intentionally used his cell phone to film the woman over the top of a single stall restroom in the St. Pete Beach restaurant.
According to Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, Lara was an employee of the restaurant.
The victim heard the men’s restroom door open next her. Both the men’s and women’s restrooms have separate entrances but share a common wall. A few moments later, she looked up and observed a cell phone, camera side facing her, on top of the wall’s divider.
A short time after she exited the restroom, the male suspect exited the men’s restroom with the cell phone.
The victim’s boyfriend confronted Lara who admitted to recording her.
Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office says that it’s likely there are more victims.
Lara allowed deputies to search his phone and told deputies there were more of the same type of videos. The suspect was taken to the Pinellas County Jail.
Lara was charged with one count of video voyeurism, and the investigation continues.
If anyone has information on this crime or is likely to be a victim of this crime, they are asked to call the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office at 727-582-6200.
