MESA, Ariz. — A boy's report recently helped Mesa police arrest a man accused of trying to record videos in a public bathroom.
The agency said 38-year-old Marvin Barnes was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of voyeurism after a boy caught him allegedly propping up his cell phone in the bathroom stall of a convenience store near Southern Avenue and Gilbert Road.
On Dec. 2, police said the boy noticed how the phone was pointed toward a bathroom stall he was using. The phone's camera was positioned in a way so that it wouldn't be obstructed by the stall's divider, records show.
After exiting the stall, the boy took out his cell phone and recorded a man retrieving the phone that had been propped up. The boy continued to film the suspect as he left the store and drove away.
Mesa police said the boy's video captured the suspect's license plate number, which was traced to Barnes. The boy later identified Barnes as the man he allegedly saw in the bathroom.
Barnes was taken into custody Wednesday and allegedly asked officers if his arrest was about "filming little boys," court records show. He was booked on one count of voyeurism.
"Without the boy’s smart thinking, it is unknown if the suspect would have ever been located or arrested," Mesa police wrote in a statement.
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