A man was arrested after allegedly crawling under several women’s cars for his sexual gratification in Gilbert, Ariz., in late August, per Fox 10 and AZ Family.
Jesse Michael Johnson, 28, was allegedly caught via camera surveillance at a Super Star Car Wash in Gilbert on Thursday, August 29.
Johnson, who has a previous history of sex crimes, was arrested on Tuesday, Sept. 24, and charged with three counts of voyeurism and three counts of disorderly conduct. He was arrested with a $10,000 bond and is expected in court in Oct. 3, per Fox 10.
One of the alleged victims, who asked to be identified as Chanelle, had stopped at the car wash before taking her son to school. While there, Johnson allegedly peeked his head out from the driver’s side of Chanelle’s car, per surveillance footage. He then returned to his car and allegedly pretended to be cleaning his tires.
She told AZ Family that she likely would not have realized what was happening if another customer had not pointed him out.
Johnson was allegedly seen doing this two more times that same day to two different women.
“In these three incidents, the defendant pulled into a parking spot next to the victim,” investigators wrote in court documents, per Fox 10. “While each victim was vacuuming her vehicle, defendant hid under her SUV and spent several minutes under her vehicle. The defendant climbed out from under the vehicle when each victim was finishing her vacuuming and left the area.”
“That is not okay. This is a place, you know, to wash your car. You should feel safe,” Super Star Car Wash general manager Reyes Brito told AZFamily.
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Chanelle told AZFamily, added that she “felt very violated” and has been “having nightmares.”
“Going into the community and doing this to women is absolutely disgusting, and I don’t think he realizes what it’s doing to us as the victims,” she said.
“I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe that I was in that situation. I just had a baby two weeks prior to this. I have two other kids. It was a very scary situation, especially with my little boy with me when it happened,” she told Fox 10. “I guess this is just a really good reminder: just to make sure that you’re always looking around, keeping your kids close, because you just never know what can be happening around you.”
Authorities in Arizona found Johnson had a criminal history and was arrested multiple times in Nebraska. According to court papers, he told law enforcement in the Midwest he “is sexually attracted to women’s feet” and could not control “his sexual desires,” per AZ Family.
In June 2016, Johnson was cited four different times in Nebraska for allegedly hiding under cars and grabbing people’s ankles, KOLN/KGIN reported at the time. He was arrested for disturbing the peace and pleaded no contest. He was sentenced to two years of probation, ordered to pay a $150 fine, and ordered to have a psychological evaluation.
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Gilbert Police Department did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for more information on Monday, Sept. 30.
