Walgreens customers in Baytown say they expect to be recorded by surveillance cameras when they are shopping. But police say on Sunday evening, Johnson was conducting some surveillance of his own, by allegedly placing a cell phone camera underneath a woman's skirt without her knowledge, for what prosecutors say was Johnson's "sexual gratification."
"I think it's a little bit creepy and disgusting, I guess," said Walgreens customer Maxine Monsegue. "I would have to say, to think that you're just out shopping and minding your own business and somebody is violating you like that."
"It's just insanely weird," said Walgreens customer Christopher Carter. "It's odd, creepy!"
The woman says when she noticed Johnson she was able to push him away. The store's surveillance video shows him leaving the store in a hurry.
The alleged victim's husband followed Johnson, leading police right to him. When they arrived, the phone appeared to have been erased.
"The facy that there wasn't anything present could also be a red flag," suggested Lt. Eric Freed with the Baytown Police Department. "I know I have pictures on my phone right now that are legal, but it just seems uncommon that there wouldn't be any."
But just like files deleted from a computer, detectives say what's been recorded on cell phones can usually be retrieved from cyberspace.
"The fact that there wasn't a picture readily available isn't going to keep us from searching deeper to see if there's something stored on the camera that we didn't initially find in a cursory search," Lt. Freed explained.
Johnson is out on $2,000 bond. He is charged with a state jail felony. If convicted, he could face between six months and two years in a state jail, and face a $10,000 fine.
