Quick-thinking teenager helps Mesa police nab voyeurism suspect

PHOENIX – A quick-thinking teenager helped police catch a suspected voyeur who allegedly took cellphone video in the bathroom stall of a Mesa business earlier this month, authorities said.

The incident took place around 5 p.m. in a convenience store at Southern Avenue and Gilbert Road on Dec. 2, the Mesa Police Department said in a blog post Friday.

The 17-year-old boy was using the restroom when he noticed a cellphone propped up in the next stall that appeared to be recording him.

He pulled out his own phone and took video of what he saw in the bathroom and of the person who’d been in the next stall. He also got the man’s license plate and supplied all the information to police.

Police used the license plate to identify 38-year-old Marvin Barnes as the vehicle’s owner, and the boy identified Barnes out of a photo lineup.

Police said they arrested Barnes on Dec. 8 and booked him on one count of voyeurism, a class 5 felony.

“Without the boy’s smart thinking, it is unknown if the suspect would have ever been located or arrested,” the blog post said.

“Good job to this young victim for thinking outside the box and providing accurate information to assist officers in this case.”

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