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Gilbert man accused of secretly filming co-workers
A Gilbert man is accused of secretly filming people inside a bathroom at a mall in Scottsdale, and the evidence that helped cracked the case was found out-of-state. FOX 10's Nicole Krasean has more.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - A Gilbert man who is accused of taking videos of people in a public bathroom without their knowledge has been arrested, and while the alleged crimes took place in Scottsdale, key evidence in the case was found on the other side of the country.
What they're saying:
Scottsdale Police say Daniel Sanchez recorded co-workers using the restroom and showering, and then put the videos on a USB. That USB, later found by a deputy all the way in South Carolina, revealed Sanchez's alleged crimes.
"Some bad luck on his end, good luck on ours, and it caught up to him from all the stuff that he's been doing years ago," said Sgt. Ryan Mercier, Special Victims Unit Supervisor for the Scottsdale Police Department.
Big picture view:
Eight videos, allegedly taken without the consent of the people in them, are now at the center of a criminal investigation spanning from the East Valley to the country's East Coast.
Scottsdale Police say a deputy with the Chester County Sheriff's Department in South Carolina found a USB in a vehicle he purchased in fall 2025.
"At some point, the suspect's vehicle was bought by a sheriff's deputy in South Carolina, and the sheriff's deputy actually lost something that he was looking for in the car," Mercier said. "While he was looking for it, he comes across the USB thumb drive, and instead of getting rid of it and discarding it, just moving on, they preview it, see the very sensitive material, and he turns it into his investigators."
Further investigation led police to Sanchez, who allegedly recorded co-workers at the Lululemon store in Scottsdale's Fashion Square mall. At least one of the videos was also taken at a Scottsdale rental property Sanchez reportedly lived at from 2016 to 2019.
"During his interview, it was very obvious that he was struggling for a very long time with some sort of addiction and this is something that he wanted to do," Mercier said.
Dig deeper:
Court documents reveal Sanchez told police he has been secretly recording people since he was 16, and has done so not just in Arizona, but also in California and Mexico. Police say the victims in this case had varying responses to the investigation.
"You'll get people that they want to know everything that's going on, which is some of our victims here, and they want to do whatever they can to help," Mercier said. "They have others that want to help, but they don't want to know what's on the video."
What's next:
Police say Sanchez did bond out. Investigators secured a search warrant for his Gilbert home and say there may be additional charges if evidence of more victims is found.
The Source: Information for this article was gathered by FOX 10's Nicole Krasean.