Man accused of recording people in gym locker room
Texarkana, Texas, police arrested William Watkins, 47, for invasive visual recording on Thursday morning, an official said.
Officers were dispatched to a suspicious person call at 8:20 a.m. Thursday at Planet Fitness, located at 1801 Robison Road, according the Shawn
Vaughn, Texarkana, Texas, Police Department spokesman.
Officers were met there by a man who told them that while taking a shower in the gym’s locker room, he briefly opened the curtain to retrieve his soap.
As the victim did, he saw a naked man lying on the floor outside the shower stall taking pictures of him with his cellphone, according to Vaughn. The victim said he immediately got dressed and left to notify a staff member.
Officers went into the locker room to locate the suspect and saw a man matching the description as he went into a dressing stall.
After waiting a few minutes, they turned on the shower next to the stall and waited. Watkins emerged naked from the stall and started toward the shower with the running water.
However, he tried to get back into the stall after he saw the officers. Watkins had the cellphone with him that the victim had described to the officers. Watkins denied any wrongdoing and allowed the officers to view his photo library on his cellphone.
The most recent entry on the phone was a 22-second video of the victim in the shower that had obviously been covertly recorded, Vaughn said.
Officers also found a picture of another unidentified man sitting in the Planet Fitness locker room. They believe the photo was also surreptitiously taken.
Watkins was arrested and transported to the Bi-State Jail, where he remains in custody. His bond has been set at $25,000.