A hidden camera was found in a campus Starbucks restroom last month.

The incident occurred at the Starbucks on the corner of Lindo Paseo and College Avenue.
A customer found the hidden camera tucked behind a trashcan in the unisex bathroom on July 17. San Diego State police said the discovery was made in the mid-morning hours of the day, although it is believed the camera was not placed in the restroom overnight.

SDSU Police Sgt. Steven Harshaw described the camera to be a small Internet Web camera.

Harshaw declined to give any details regarding a suspect, but he said the SDSU police department does have some active leads. The day of the incident police were given a description of a possible suspect as a white male, thin, blond hair, wearing a dark-blue T-shirt and Khaki shorts. Theater freshman Monique Lopez said she couldn’t believe something like this would happen.

“This is gross, other than being a pervert I cannot see why someone would do this,” she said.
Lopez also said this incident will make her more aware of her surroundings when she uses a public restroom.

Harshaw said although incidents like these are uncommon, they still happen.
“It does happen from time to time,” Harshaw said. “It’s happened before but not like this, but it does happen infrequently.”

Harshaw said in the last few years there have been two or three other cases. He said what made this case different from the other times is that the camera was found in the bathroom and usually it is with handheld equipment such as cell phones.

Employees at Starbucks were not able to comment about the incident but did say that in order for customers to use the restroom, they now must get tokens from the front counter. Calls to the Starbucks HR department were not returned.