Detectives Locate, Charge Wal-Mart Peeping Tom; Suspect A Truck Driver Arrested In Del.

Detectives Locate, Charge Wal-Mart Peeping Tom; Suspect A Truck Driver Arrested In Del.
walmart stalker 3

BERLIN — Surveillance video and some good detective work last week led to the arrest of a Pennsylvania man wanted in connection with a Peeping Tom incident at the Wal-Mart in Berlin in early April.

Around 9:30 a.m. on April 3, the Maryland State Police received a call from Wal-Mart Security advising a white male had entered the ladies’ room and used a cell phone to take photographs or video of a victim who was using the restroom. While the victim was using the restroom, she observed a cell phone suddenly appear under the stall door and immediately confronted the suspect.

The suspect, described as a white male, roughly 35-40 years old and about 275-300 pounds, exited the restrooms and the Wal-Mart store and began running toward the Home Depot store adjacent to the Wal-Mart. The victim and Wal-Mart employees continued to follow the suspect until they lost sight of him.

MSP troopers and allied law enforcement agencies responded to search for the suspect, but he was not located. Video surveillance and still images obtained by Wal-Mart showed he was wearing a dark brown, zippered, hooded sweatshirt, black or dark blue jogging pants, a black knit cap and Reebok tennis shoes with bright orange outsoles. The suspect also had a gray goatee or facial hair.

MSP troopers were able to obtain video surveillance from Wal-Mart, which revealed the suspect loitering near the entrance to the store. The video showed the victim walking into the store passed the suspect, who put his phone away at that time. The suspect then followed the victim through the store and into the restroom area. Less than a minute later, the suspect was observed running from the restroom with the victim following him while pointing and yelling.

On April 13, detectives were able to pull additional surveillance video from a different camera at Wal-Mart. The video showed the suspect get out of a loading spot at the adjacent Home Depot and the suspect was matched to the victim running from the restroom at Wal-Mart. After speaking with employees at the Home Depot shipping and receiving area, detectives were able to identify the suspect as George Toth, of Pennsylvania, who was the driver of the tractor-trailer and the suspect in the Peeping Tom case.

Worcester County Bureau of Investigations (WCBI) detectives obtained an arrest warrant for Toth charging him with Peeping Tom and prurient intent. Detectives tracked Toth to the Home Depot in Dover, Del. and contacted the Dover Police Department, which arrested Toth on the charges related to the Wal-Mart incident and an out-of-state warrant. WCBI detectives traveled to Dover to interview Toth, who was found to be a registered Tier 2 sex offender in Pennsylvania.

Toth was taken before a judge in Delaware and was released on an unsecured $2,000 bond. Toth is scheduled to appear in Delaware on May 23 for a hearing on extradition back to Worcester County to face charges related to the Wal-Mart incident.