A Manhattan urologist has been charged with using a recording device hidden in a pen to videotape underneath female straphangers' skirts, according to a criminal complaint.
Adam Levinson, 39, was arraigned early Thursday. A bystander noticed Levinson sticking a pen rolled up in a newspaper underneath a woman's skirt on a southbound no. 4 train during the evening rush hour Tuesday.
The alert civilian told NBC 4 New York he noticed that every time the woman moved, Levinson moved the newspaper.
"He kept moving the newspaper," said Sheldon Birthwright, a construction worker and retired TSA agent. "That's not a big deal, but to keep moving it every time an individual would move?"
Levinson got off the subway at the Union Square stop and Birthwright followed him. He then observed Levinson sticking the pen under the skirt of another woman on the L train platform and notified police.
"I ran inside the police station, told some detectives, let them know I was retired TSA," said Birthwright.
A police officer took the pen from Levinson and saw that it contained a visual recording device. The officer obtained a search warrant to review the recorded images on the device and said it contained multiple clips that had been recorded under the victim's skirt.
Levinson, who is affiliated with Mount Sinai Hospital, has been suspended pending the result of the investigation, a hospital spokesman said.
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Levinson was charged with second-degree unlawful surveillance, a felony. Bail was set at $5,000 cash or $15,000 bond. He's next due in court Oct. 15.
His attorney, Eugene Nathanson, did not immediately return a call seeking comment. There was no answer at Levinson's apartment in Manhattan.
For Birthwright's part, he was glad he took action.
"To see this unfolding right before my eyes, it just didn't seem right," he said. "I had to do something."
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