The Toronto Police Service is investigating after a hidden camera was found inside a Starbucks washroom at the corner of Yonge and King streets in downtown Toronto.
Toronto police media officer Gary Long said the camera was discovered on the wall, under the sink, facing the toilet. He added that it was hidden behind what appeared to be an electrical outlet.
Police say a customer brought the hidden camera to a Starbucks’ manager’s attention on May 2 at around 4:30 p.m., alerting staff that it was hidden in one of the coffee shop’s two unisex bathrooms. Police couldn’t attend the call that day, but arrived at the Starbucks the following day to pick up the camera and file a report.
“It was a motion-activated camera,” Long said.
“It is unknown at this point when the camera was placed in the washroom,” Long added. “We’re continuing the investigation with it… and we are checking video of the store and video in the area. At this point, we have no suspect information.”
A Reddit post appeared to show a message to other Starbucks staff, alerting them of the hidden camera found in the King Street West location. The message also said that the electrical outlet hiding the camera was “fake” and has a picture of an outlet cover and a black miniature camera attached.
A spokesperson for Starbucks Canada told Global News that “once alerted to the device, our partners acted quickly and reported this incident immediately to the police. There was no 24-hour delay. Store leadership in the area were contacted and we confirmed that no other devices were found.”
“It’s creepy,” said Starbucks customer Marian MacDonald. “That’s shocking. In Toronto? I mean, what’s happening here?”
Meanwhile, Starbucks customer Keianne Williams is worried she was recorded on camera while using the washroom.
“I’m scared to use public washrooms now,” Williams said. “I have used this washroom before, many times, so that’s definitely scary for me. I’m not even going to lie, I’m so shook right now. This is new information for me, it’s terrifying.”
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Customers also told Global News they’re worried that this will happen more often now with video-recording technology advancing so quickly.
“I think we all have to be vigilant, not just the staff,” said MacDonald.
“It’s all of us… to report what we see.”
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