Man arrested for recording people in bathroom at cafe in Heights, court records show

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- According to Houston police, 31-year-old Roman Brewington is accused of intentionally recording and hiding his phone in the bathroom at the Dandelion Cafe in the Heights.

Court records show the man from Atlanta is now charged with felony invasive recording.

The cafe owner told ABC13 that this all started on Monday when a group of men came into the restaurant.

"The trash had been piled up, and the lid was open, and he had placed it in the top, wrapped in towels or toilet paper so that it looked like it was part of the trash, and she was able to spot it," Dandelion Café co-owner Sarah Lieberman said.

Lieberman said that not long after a young woman noticed the phone recording in the bathroom, she told employees, who called 911.

"On the video camera, you can see where the man went in there, found that his phone was not in there, started pacing back and forth, went back into that same restroom three times on that video camera, just for a couple of moments looking to see if it was still in there," said Lieberman.

According to court records, the cellphone did, in fact, record video of at least two women, including the complaining witness, using the restroom.

Police said Brewington cooperated with the investigation but was not truthful. Officers say Brewington claimed he had just dropped his phone accidentally, but court records indicated that when officers looked at the camera gallery, they claimed they were able to see Brewington carefully placing his phone in the bathroom.

Lieberman said Brewington and the men he was with at the time are not allowed back at any of their locations.

"It's very concerning, and it's terrible and creepy and just not normal and definitely upsetting, and we need to make sure by banning all of them, making sure that we're showing that this behavior is unacceptable," said Lieberman.

Brewington has since bonded out, but is not allowed to use any video recording devices.