Apex man accused of peeping in women's restrooms

Elliot Brandon Zayas, 24, of 1029 Mica Lamp Court, was arrested Wednesday night on 15 peeping-related charges. He was released Thursday afternoon on a $22,000 bond.

Apex police searched Zayas' house Wednesday and seized 30 items, including three wireless portable digital video recorders, digital cameras, computers and discs containing videos and photos, said Detective Michael Garafalo of the Apex Police Department.

Twenty-one women were videotaped at various locations, but investigators are still trying to determine where and when some of the videos were taken, Garafalo said.

Six women were taped in a bathroom at an unidentified store after a camera was planted in a bathroom stall, Garafalo said. Another four were taped in their rooms at an unidentified hotel by a miniature camera that was slid under room doors, he said.

Zayas also took pictures up the skirts of 10 women at a Super Target in Apex by planting a camera inside a pair of sneakers, which were painted black to disguise the lens, Garafalo said.

"It concerns me," said Katrina Brown, who was shopping at the Super Target on Thursday. "It makes me wonder, you know, should I be looking up in the air vents? Is there a camera in the napkin dispenser?"

A Raleigh woman with whom Zayas and his wife were staying temporarily found a camera in her bathroom after the couple moved out, Garafalo said. She also found a disc that contained video of her and of other women, he said.

A video on Zayas' Facebook page showed an unidentified woman being followed through a warehouse, which Garafalo said was similar to some of the videos investigators have reviewed.

Still, Kandice Zayas said she was stunned by the allegations against her husband.

Raleigh police are assisting in the investigation.

During a brief court appearance Thursday, a judge appointed a lawyer for Elliott Zayas and set his next court date for April 30.