Electrician accused of filming woman inside changing room at Tri-Cities mall
A Kennewick electrician is accused of filming a woman in the changing room of a clothing store at Columbia Center mall.
Joseph M. Renders, 36, of Kennewick, was arrested by Kennewick police last week and is charged with first-degree voyeurism. He has since been released from the Benton County jail on $10,000 bond.
A 27-year-old woman was trying on clothes at a mall store about 2:15 p.m. on Nov. 10, when she looked down and noticed someone holding a phone angled into her changing area, court documents said.
She could see herself on the screen of the iPhone and realized it was recording.
The woman opened the door and saw a man standing outside. She followed him to Macy’s where her fiancé was, court documents said. The couple confronted the man and snapped a photo of him as he ran away, said court documents.
Security video from the store reportedly showed Renders walking around the store before approaching the changing rooms, court documents said. He then allegedly crouched by the doors.
The video showed him standing up quickly and walking away, and the woman following him out of the store, said the documents.
Renders, owner of JR Electric in Kennewick, is a licensed electrician, according to the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries.