Thread: CT: Restaurant Owner Arrested for Placing Camera in Women's

Restaurant Owner Arrested for Placing Camera in Women's Bathroom

Owner, who is allegedly an illegal immigrant, admits to recording women using the toilet, police said.

By Kathleen Ramunni
March 17, 2011

The owner of a Dixwell Avenue restaurant, who is allegedly in the United States illegally, was arrested Wednesday on charges that he rigged a camera to record women in the restaurant's bathroom.

Police received a complaint of suspicious activity at Terrace Savory Restaurant at 1559 Dixwell Ave. about 3 p.m. Wednesday, police spokesman Sgt. Anthony Diaz said.

A female customer told officers that she had found a recording device in the bathroom, Diaz said. The restaurant serves Thai cuisine.

Members of the Patrol Division and the Major Crimes Unit investigated, Diaz said, and found a Nikon battery charger in the office of the restaurant's owner, Nitipong Pruchyanmit.

They then searched Pruchyanmit's car, Diaz said, and found a Nikon camera in the glove compartment.

Pruchyanmit, 29, who also identified himself as Jeff Pruchyanmit, admitted the camera was his and he had put it in the woman's bathroom under a sink, Diaz said.

The camera faced the toilet area, Diaz said, and Pruchyanmit had set it on record to tape the women using the toilets.

Pruchyanimit was initially charged with tampering with evidence, voyeurism and breach of peace, but police then found he is in the United States illegally and had several identities.

Purchyanimit was then charged with criminal impersonation, interfering with police and forgery. He is being held in lieu of $100,000 bond and a detainer from the Department of Homeland Security, Diaz said.

Thursday afternoon two people who have frequented the restaurant expressed surprise at the arrest.

"I've eaten here several times and I'm shocked," said Saysha Tolinky, 34, who lives in New Haven. "That is really a terrible thing to do."

"That's disgusting," her friend Martina Lenyard, 41, said. "What is wrong with people? That's sick."

The women said they work nearby and would often stop in after work.

"No more," Lenyard said.

http://hamden.patch.com

Pruchyanimit was initially charged with tampering with evidence, voyeurism and breach of peace, but police then found he is in the United States illegally and had several identities.

In the coutnry illegally with several identities! Gee...that's a shocker!