A Braselton man was arrested by police for stalking and peeping up a woman’s skirt with a mirror he placed in a grocery store basket.
Clinton Richard Rhodes, 36, was charged with stalking, peeping tom and eavesdropping in the May 9 incident at the Publix on Ga. Hwy. 211. He was booked in the Barrow County Jail on May 18.
Braselton police suspect there could be additional victims in the case, as well.
A woman shopping in the store said a man — later identified as Rhodes — placed a shopping basket with a mirror inside of it on the floor. She felt the basket hit her dress and that’s when she noticed that the man, who was kneeling beside her, was looking up her dress.
The woman told a store employee, who then told an assistant manager. The woman, the manager and a Braselton officer later watched store surveillance video to see if the suspect could be identified.
The suspect couldn’t be identified from the video, but he made a purchase with a debit card at Publix. Braselton police later got a superior court judge to sign an order requesting personnel information about the suspect from a bank.
Using that information, Braselton police identified Rhodes as a possible suspect and asked him to answer questions at the police department. He talked about the incident with officers and wrote a statement about it, according to an incident report.
Rhodes said he entered the store, grabbed a basket and got a mirror from a cosmetic aisle. He said he placed the basket on the ground next to a woman to see up her skirt.
Rhodes said he did the peeping on a spur of the moment.
An officer said surveillance video showed that Rhodes followed the woman from the cosmetics aisle and searched for her down the other aisles until he found her, according to an incident report.
Rhodes told police he did the same four times. An officer said since he didn’t know the other three victims, Rhodes was only charged with one offense.
Rhodes also told police that he wanted to apologize to the woman so he could make things right, according to an incident report. He pledged not to do it again and he’d never return to the store.
A Publix assistant manager told police that if a suspect confessed, the store wanted to press charges. The assistant manager also said he wanted a temporary protective order (TPO) against the suspect at all Publix stores.