SANTA ROSA, Calif. - A restaurant manager who allegedly set up a cell phone to secretly record video in the women's restroom of a Santa Rosa restaurant was arrested this week, police said.
Authorities were alerted Monday by a customer of the Ohana Hawaiian BBQ at 2150 Santa Rosa Ave. The woman told police she made a habit of checking air vents after seeing videos on social media about hidden recording devices.
"She saw what appeared to be a cellular phone in the vent, with the camera lens facing the interior of the bathroom," Santa Rosa police said Tuesday in a news release.
Lucky Santa Rosa lottery player wins $2 million
The Santa Rosa liquor store that sold the ticket is also getting a $10,000 bonus.
She called police and notified the manager, and then guarded the single-user bathroom so that no one else would enter before police responded.
When officers arrived, they removed the vent cover and recovered the phone, police said.
"They noted the cell phone was recording video and had been recording for approximately 46 minutes," police said.
The phone allegedly belonged to the restaurant manager, Daniel Nam, 37, of Santa Rosa, police said.
Nam was booked into Sonoma County Jail on suspicion of using a hidden camera to record someone in a private space without their knowledge or consent.
Detectives seized both Nam's cell phone and laptop computer to determine if he had been secretly recording other victims.
Although detectives don't have a timeline for how long Nam had allegedly been recording patrons in the restaurant, they believe it could have been occurring for several months.
Police are asking members of the public who believe they may have been victimized by Nam or those with information related to the case to call the SRPD DVSA tipline at (707) 543-3595.