A 19-year-old man accused of entering the women’s locker room at Firstenburg Community Center and possibly pulling a towel off a woman who was changing appeared Thursday in Clark County Superior Court.
Johnathan R. Hollis of Vancouver was in court on suspicion of second-degree burglary in connection with the April 22 incident. However, the prosecution said it’s possible additional charges will be filed. The Vancouver Police Department referred charges of voyeurism and third-degree theft.
Police said the incident wasn’t reported until Monday.
Within a 40-minute span, surveillance cameras captured a man, later identified as Hollis, repeatedly enter the women’s locker room at the center, 700 N.E. 136th Ave., according to an affidavit of probable cause included in court filings.
The victim said that at about 3:30 p.m. she went into the locker room to change into swimwear when she noticed a man near the locker room doors. While disrobing, she saw movement near some mirrors and saw what she thought was a person with a cellphone stepping back into the shadows. She said it happened several times, the affidavit states.
She returned to the locker room at about 4 p.m. to change out of her swimwear, she said, and was bent over with a towel draped around her waist when she felt her towel be yanked away. She looked and saw the same man running away with a cellphone in his hand, court records said. Surveillance cameras captured him running out the back, side door of the center, police said.
The center’s director viewed the footage and said the same man entered the facility without paying, according to court documents.
After police released the suspect’s description to the public, a citizen tip identified him as Hollis. Police then contacted Hollis, and he came to the Vancouver Police Department’s East Precinct to be interviewed, the affidavit said.
He previously told police over the phone that he had gone to the center to retrieve items he left there and denied taking photos or videos with his cellphone. He said he went into the women’s locker room because he thought his girlfriend left the items in there, court records state.
However, he later said that he lied and he actually went to the center to steal items from the locker rooms. Hollis said he went to the men’s locker room first, but there were people in there so he decided to check the women’s locker room.
He went in and out several times, he said, checking to make sure no one was in there while he went through occupied, unlocked lockers, according to court documents.
Hollis told police he hid in a bathroom stall at one point to wait for some women to leave. The last time he entered the locker room, he turned the corner of the middle locker area and said he was surprised to see a girl in there. He turned and ran, the affidavit states.
He gave his phone to police to review, court records show.
During his hearing, Judge Gregory Gonzales appointed Hollis an attorney and set his bail at $20,000. He will be arraigned May 18.
Hollis’ mother, Michelle, also told media after her son’s hearing that he was not in the locker room to take photos of women; he planned to steal things from the lockers.
She said investigators told her they did not find evidence of photos on her son’s phone.
“He did go there to do something stupid,” she said. “He’s very remorseful. He didn’t think how it would affect anyone else.”
Police are asking anyone who may have experienced a similar incident and didn’t report it to call 911.
