SPANISH FORK — A woman who found a tiny camera in the bathroom of a Spanish Fork gas station said she hopes the punishment for the culprit is more than just a slap on the wrist.
"It's very disgusting and violating," said Mindy Carpowich, the woman who found the camera. "Who knows how long it's been going on and how many women and children he's seen."
Carpowich said she and her friend went into the Chevron at 890 N. Main in Spanish Fork Saturday around 10:30 p.m. to use the rest room.
Carpowich's friend went first, and after Carpowich had finished, she noticed a small black object the size of a quarter hanging from the bottom of the toilet tank, somehow attached with several paperclips.
She noticed a tiny lens, and when she pulled on it, it fell to the floor — wires and a 9-volt battery.
She said she panicked, disconnected the wires and took it out of the bathroom to show her friends and look for a police officer.
A third friend who had been waiting outside in her truck said she saw the store clerk run to the back when the first woman was in the bathroom.
When Carpowich went in, the man had other customers and didn't go to the back.
The women left the store and stopped a police officer cruising Main Street.
The officer went to speak with the man about 20 minutes later, just before the store closed, said Spanish Fork Police Lt. Steve Adams.
"He was visibly shaken, the officer noticed," Adams said of the employee. "He was acting nervous. He wasn't acting like an innocent individual."
The 45-year-old employee denied knowing about the camera, and the officer followed up with his investigation Monday morning, when the station opened again, but before the man could go to work.
During that second interview he allegedly admitted he had placed it in the bathroom to watch females as they used the facilities, Adams said.
He allegedly admitted he had done this before on one other occasion but has no criminal history.
The man was cited with a class A misdemeanor of voyeurism.
The business owners said the man has been a good employee and never given them cause to be suspicious. He is no longer employed there, however.
"He claims he wasn't recording it," Carpowich said. "Who really knows?"
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