Ex-hotel employee pleads not guilty to installing hidden camera in bathroom
A then-employee accused of installing a hidden camera found by a guest inside the bathroom of her Palm Springs hotel room pleaded not guilty Monday to a misdemeanor invasion of privacy charge.
Oscar Patino-Aguilar, 31, is accused of hiding the camera inside a bathroom light fixture at the Baymont Inn & Suites at 390 S. Indian Canyon Drive. A woman staying at the hotel with her daughter, her daughter’s friend and another woman discovered the camera in her room on June 13, 2016, authorities said.
According to a declaration in support of an arrest warrant, Patino-Aguilar showed the women and two teenage girls to their room. The group then went to the pool, but when one of the women returned to the hotel room to
retrieve some water, she noticed a male hotel worker with the nameplate “Oscar” inside the room with the lights off and curtains drawn.
The woman told police that “Oscar” was attempting to leave the room as she was returning. She searched through her belongings to see if anything had been taken, then noticed that the light bulb directly above the toilet was positioned at a strange angle, according to the declaration. Upon further examination, she found “a small electronic object hugging the light bulb,” aimed toward the toilet.
Patino-Aguilar was later detained in the hotel lobby and initially denied any knowledge of the camera, according to the declaration, but later allegedly admitted to a Palm Springs police officer that he placed the camera in the room. Two methamphetamine pipes were also allegedly found in his pants pockets.
Criminal charges were not filed against him until May 8. Patino-Aguilar also faces charges of bringing drugs into county jail and possession of controlled substances.
He remains free on $5,000 bail and is set to return to court June 1 for a felony settlement conference.
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