A man who was captured on a TikTok video lurking near women’s legs at a Burbank bookstore was arrested on Friday.
Caleese Carron Crowder, 37, was located and arrested in Glendale.
Crowder is also accused of peeping into the occupied residence of a family in Glendale. He is a person of interest in a number of related prowling cases, Glendale police said.
In a now-viral video posted to social media, the victim, 28-year-old Michaela Witter, was shopping at a Barnes & Noble on Aug. 7 when she noticed a strange man had been following her around.
“It felt like anywhere I moved, he kept following me,” she recalled. “So I recorded just in case he was trying to say anything or do anything to me, but I definitely did not expect him to do this.”
In the video, the man is seen crouching down low and getting extremely close to Witter’s legs. He is later seen doing the same thing to another woman browsing nearby.
“I was so freaked out,” she said. “He was literally under me, so freaking close to me, so I decided to tell the front desk.”
Witter turned around and confronted the man, asking him what he was doing. He claimed he was tying his shoes.
“Which he wasn’t,” Witter said. “He was pretending to. His shoes were tied.”
After posting the video to TikTok, Witter said, “A lot of women were very sympathetic because they have experienced this harassment from men and stalking.”
She still doesn’t know what the suspect was trying to do. She didn’t see a cell phone in his hand at the time either.
After posting the video, commenters claimed the suspect could potentially be the same man with a long criminal history of peeping, prowling and residential burglary in the Glendale area.
Crowder remains in police custody with his bail set at $10,000. He is expected to be arraigned on Monday.
Investigators said they are also speaking with other potential victims of the suspect at this time. Anyone with information can call Glendale Police at 818-648-4911.
To remain anonymous, contact L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or go to www.lacrimestoppers.org