The first bust in the first active week California's videotape voyeur law has been made - Long Beach police have arrested a 35-year-old man for allegedly videotaping a woman down her blouse and under her skirt while she shopped in a shoe store earlier this month.
Local CBS News says Mark David Perelli faces a misdemeanor charge under the new law which took effect New Year's Day. He's due to appear in Long Beach municipal court Jan. 20, and could face a $1,000 fine and six months in jail if convicted.
The new video voyeur law prohibits videotaping or photographing under or through clothing without the person's knowledge.
"He just placed the camera in the bag, cut a hole for the lens and then just carried the bag around as if it was a regular shopping bag," Long Beach police spokeswoman Nancy Tabing tells CBS 2 News here. Police say he put the bag in front of the woman while she tried shoes on, but she noticed the device within a few minutes.
Tabing says she looked up and saw Perelli about five feet away, realized what was happening, and confronted him. "At that point," she tells CBS 2, "he fled the store, but she (ran after him)."
Perelli's homemade spycam allegedly captured "(some) very revealing shots," says Tabing. He was arrested after an undercover police officer saw the incident.
