South End Man Allegedly Filmed Unsuspecting Stranger in Bathroom Stall
All he wanted to do was use the bathroom.
But a 25-year-old man using the restroom at the Downtown Crossing Marshalls saw someone kneeling in the stall next to him and filming him with a phone, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office. The victim yelled and the filmer fled, eluding police.
Store surveillance footage showed the yet-to-be-identified suspect going into the restroom about an hour before (and then running out of the store and onto Washington Street right after) the unsettling incident, which happened on February 26, the DA’s office said.
The suspect — who authorities said was about 6 feet tall, 190 pounds, and bald — “cut a distinctive figure,’’ which likely helped store staff recognize him when he reappeared on March 9 and spent about 45 minutes in the men’s room.
A security guard followed him to a nearby gym, where he was questioned by police. He admitted to the previous week’s filming incident, after which police confiscated his phone and sought a complaint against him, according to the DA’s office.
Rocco Collela, 30, was charged with “videotaping an unsuspecting person in the nude.’’ He was arraigned Thursday in Boston Municipal Court, released on his own recognizance, and ordered by a judge to stay away from the store.
Collela is due back in court June 3.
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