Times Square Forever 21 Shopper Spots Peeper, Chases Him Down: Police

What to Know

  • The woman spotted the peeping Tom as she changed inside the Forever 21 in Times Square
  • She chased the man to the Times Square - 42nd Street Station and caught him on a train.
  • The man was arrested on unlawful surveillance charges.

A woman caught an alleged peeping Tom taking photos of her in the dressing room of a Times Square store, then chased him to a subway train and got the help of several straphangers to detain the man until police could get to the scene, authorities said.

The woman was trying on outfits at the Forever 21 at West 46th Street and Seventh Avenue on Sunday when she noticed she was being filmed, according to the NYPD. She confronted the man who was filming her, and the man ran out of the store. 

The woman chased after the alleged peeper, who ran to the Times Square - 42nd Street subway station and got onto a southbound N train.

"I did this because I didn't want my image to be on social media or used in any inappropriate manner," the woman told NBC 4 New York by phone. 

Police said that the woman also got on the train and grabbed onto the man, later identified as 39-year-old Tommy Chan. The woman asked other straphangers for help, and they grabbed onto Chan. 

The woman and other straphangers kept Chan from running away until they got to the Union Square station, where police arrested the man on unlawful surveillance charges.

According to DNAinfo, which first reported the arrest, Chan had a camera and photos of the woman in her underwear when he was arrested.

Chan was represented by Legal Aid, which doesn't typically comment on cases.

NBC 4 New York has reached out to Forever 21 for comment. 

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