A Sleepy Hollow man was arraigned Tuesday in Westchester County Court on charges of recording images under women's skirts in the .
Jose Piedra, 48, of Kendall Ave. was observed on Aug. 22, 2011, by Target store security placing his cellphone under unsuspecting female shoppers' skirts and taking pictures and video, according to the Westchester County District Attorney's Office. Security alerted White Plains police, who watched the store's surveillance video and were able to locate Piedra still in the store continuing his actions.
“When they returned to the security office, police were informed the defendant had been observed repeating his actions with another woman while police were looking for him,” said Westchester District Attorney Janet DiFiore.
After obtaining a warrant, police found several video clips on Piedra's phone.
Piedra was charged with 14 counts of second-degree Unlawful Surveillance, a class "E" felony, "relating to the illegal photographing of a person’s intimate parts for his own sexual purposes," said DiFiore.
Piedra could face up to four years in state prison for each count against him. He is scheduled to appear in County Court on May 8. The case will be prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Michelle Lopez, Deputy Chief of the Sex Crimes Bureau.
Note: This information does not indicate a conviction.
If you have any concerns about any comment, please let me know. I can be reached at kathleen@patch.com for the fastest response. You (and all our readers) should know that we've empowered you to flag any comment you find inappropriate, it's the gray writing just above your comment. It's there right now. If enough of you agree, it disappears. We also list the email and phone numbers of our local editors so you can discuss any issues you may have with the editor directly.
I happen to know this person. He is not what the DA or media projected him to be and the story is twisted. This person has been a target of discrimination attacks by the policy because of his Hispanic heritage. Jose Luis Piedra was testing a bike (kid’s motored bike) with his son by his street address. The cops followed him and harassed him to his apartment. A police officer hit Jose and hand cuffed him. While hand cuffed, the cop pushed Jose and fell down the stairs. Jose blacked out and his son tried to assist him. Jose was taken to the hospital. Jose got released from the hospital, and the cops took him to jail. His son was also arrested and both charged with felony charges. Now the cops, the same one who arrested him once—by the way with false claims of intoxication, is claiming that Jose resisted arrest and had assaulted a police officer, and some other charges. The officer is lying in claiming that he got injured because of Jose. The officer is heavy in size. Jose and his son claim that they are both being discriminated and targeted. The entire family, his wife, son, and daughter, are very devastated about the Sleepy Hollow town, with cops chasing Spanish people around. Jose is a welder and can hardly support his family
I agree.
Why, do you think those born here do? Puhleeze. On this thing with the camera, though - can Krista or someone explain to me: a. who wears skirts these days? and 2. how someone (unless he concocted a camera on his shoe as in another reported case and I can't figure that one out either) can GET on the GROUND, POINT a camera phone UP a woman's skirt (again, WHO wears skirts?) and take a picture, much less a video? Man oh man, what a world.
All people who are arrested are supposed to be considered innocent until proven guilty. But this won't stop people from posting insulting remarks. What upsets me is that after a person is proven innocent of charges (happens every day) that newspapers don't write stories about it. Wouldn't make any difference to the person arrested, however, because their name and reputation is already smeared. Now if persons arrested could use anonymous names, THAT would be interesting!
Now can you figure out how he got the camera up those skirts (WHO wears skirts?) and took VIDEO? He's still a DB for doing that, native, immigrant, or otherwise.
This is neither of those. It's one thing to be accused of being intoxicated, which after a day or so of sitting in jail can never be proven or disproven... it's completely different for a man to be accused of recording video from a cellphone under a woman's skirt, claiming that Target security eye-witnessed this first-hand, claiming it was caught on security footage that the police then eye-witnessed first-hand, and then claiming that recorded video footage was found on his cellphone after his arrest. If the police have it in for Mr. Piedra because of his Hispanic background, and if the evidence *appears* sound, they sure went through a lot of trouble to fabricate at least two eye-witnesses, surveillance video, and multiple videos of unsuspecting women to upload to his phone (which can easily be authenticated through a data test to determine what exact time to the second they were taken, thus indicating his possession or lack thereof of his cellphone at the time the recordings happened).
Another thing, if you think it is a serious issue, why don't you contact the FBI? if it's that bad, maybe Jose, et al, should move?
So, if there are many latinos and blacks, 1) what are you, then, white, indian, minority? Why is the cops majority white -- check your math!
Pictures of his wife? And he's a deacon in his church and feeds stray puppies and kitties? He was 'observed' by Target security. Did Target security have it in for him? Was he known to the Target security guy and he had a beef with him? But let's not make a saint out of the guy until we know all the facts. There are plenty of pervs out there, IF he is another of them, lock him up and throw away the key. NO, we don't know all the facts, and there are three sides: his, the police, and the truth.