A man was taken into custody over the weekend for reportedly recording a mother and her young daughter while they were changing in a dressing room at a clothing store in Miami Beach.
Luca DiMichele, 31, was taken into custody on Saturday afternoon and is now facing a charge of video voyeurism, according to arrest documents.
At approximately 3:10 p.m., Miami Beach Police responded to a call regarding an incident that occurred in the fitting rooms of the Forever 21 store on Lincoln Road.
Arrest documents reveal that a mother was shopping with her six-year-old son and 10-year-old daughter when they entered the fitting room area. The mother and daughter stepped into a single stall to try on pants together.
The mother informed the police that as they were getting dressed, her daughter spotted a cell phone lying on the floor between their stall and the adjacent one, with its camera directed upwards. The mother initially thought the phone had been left on the floor while the person in the adjacent stall was getting changed, according to the arrest documents. A hand suddenly reached out, snatching the phone away from sight.
As the mother leaned down to adjust her pants, she noticed a hand moving the phone atop a stack of clothes, nudging it closer to her and her daughter. She discovered that both she and her daughter were being recorded without their knowledge by someone unknown.
The mother picked up the phone and flipped it over, noticing it was set to video mode. She exited her stall and encountered DiMichele, according to the arrest documents.
A mother and daughter confronted a man for recording them while they were changing clothes, stating they had seen the phone emerge from under their stall several times. DiMichele refuted the claims and requested the return of his phone. The mother, while recording on her phone, chose not to fulfill his request and started looking for the store manager instead.
The mother and daughter located the manager and shared their account of the incident. They ceased recording the video and gave the cell phone to store management as they waited for the police to arrive. DiMichele was in the store when the officers showed up.
After the police arrived at the store, they requested the mother to provide a description of DiMichele and his phone prior to speaking with him. DiMichele was arrested following the reading of his Miranda rights.