Des Moines Police arrested a 40-year-old Seattle man, dressed in women’s clothing, for allegedly taking photos in the women’s restroom Thursday at the Des Moines Library, 21620 11th Ave. S.
A library patron called 911 after she noticed a cellphone camera lens pointed into the restroom stall she was in, according to a Des Moines Police media release. The woman swatted at the phone, left the restroom and called 911.
While on the phone, the woman saw a man wearing women’s clothing and carrying a black messenger type bag leave the restroom. He fled on foot.
Officers arrived and were told by two people that they saw a man running, stop, take off a skirt and put it in a black bag and continue running. Police found the man hiding under a travel trailer in the 700 block of South 216th Street. Officers found a cellphone on the man but no black bag. Detectives will seek a search warrant to examine the phone’s data.
Police are looking into two similar incidents in the past two years at the library. Officers also are checking with other law enforcement agencies to see if they have had similar incidents.
Officers booked the man into the South Correctional Entity in Des Moines. He was later transferred to the King County jail in Seattle.
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