Man accused of placing recording device in tanning room to face judge

HICKORY, N.C. — Police said they’ve arrested a person accused of placing a recording device inside a Planet Fitness in Hickory.

Investigators said they arrested and charged Darren Astles with felony peeping using a photographic image device.

Astles will make his first court appearance Wednesday morning.

Channel 9 spoke to a woman who said she found the device near the tanning beds at the gym on North Center Street. Holly Morrow said the device looked like a phone charger but appeared to have a lens and small light on it.

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She said she had gone into one of the tanning rooms and discovered it plugged into the wall.

Morrow said she immediately took it to the front desk to alert employees about what she had found. She said she could also see an SD slot inside the device.

(Photo courtesy: Gadget Monkey)

“It makes me feel sick to my stomach. It makes me feel sick that there is an individual that was there that day,” Morrow said. “Who knows how many times this person has been there. And who knows how many people are potential victims.”

Police believe Astles secretly used the camera to create a video of an unknown female in the tanning room, according to the arrest warrant.

Morrow hopes by sharing her story other people will be more aware of their surroundings when in gyms and elsewhere.

“Every night I’ve laid down to sleep… and I’m, like, how many people were in and out of that room and don’t even know that they were being recorded? I know what I saw,” Morrow said.

Check back for updates on this developing story.

Cox Media Group