A tech CEO in Palo Alto was arrested on Monday in Mountain View for allegedly peeping into a woman's restroom stall, the Mountain View Police Department said.
Police dispatchers got the call around 11:40 a.m. from a woman who said she had been in the bathroom at Panera restaurant on El Monte Avenue when she saw a man stick his head underneath the stall to look at her, according to a press release. The woman screamed and the man ran out of the restroom and out into the street.
However, the woman gave chase on foot and confronted him near El Camino Real, police said. She attempted to take a picture of the man but he grabbed her phone and pushed her to the ground.
According to police, he then took off running toward Marich Way, took off his shirt and jumped a fence, and then returned to Panera, where he was tackled by a group of bystanders.
The victim identified the 35-year-old man who was arrested on suspicion of robbery and peeping.
Detectives are concerned that there may be more victims that have not come forward. If you or anyone you know may be a victim of the alleged peeper, contact Detective Josh Gould at josh.gould@mountainview.gov. Police would also like to talk to anyone who witnessed the event.
Editor's note: Palo Alto Online's policy is to withhold the names of those arrested for most crimes until the district attorney has determined there is sufficient evidence to file charges in the case. Read our guidelines.
Comments
Registered user
Old Palo Alto
on Jan 3, 2023 at 12:36 am
Registered user
on Jan 3, 2023 at 12:36 am
The Press Release identifies him as Eduardo Moreno. You reported that Moreno "pushed [the victim] to the ground," which, combined with the peeping, could make this crime assault with sex-based aggravating factor. That is absolutely a _violent crime_, under your guidelines, meaning you can and should report the identity of the arrested alleged perp to protect the public.
By failing to consider violence against a woman a "violent" act, PAO compounds the harm to the victim and potentially puts others at risk. The trivialization of violence against women has been well-documented; you can witness how the violence can continue and escalate for decades when women's complaints are not taken seriously in numerous books, articles, and movies, including the recent film, "She Said."
Here, the Police are asking for help empowering women to come forward. Prioritizing the alleged perp over existing victims will not help additional victims come forward. And, diminishing the victim's actual trauma to that of "not violent" sends victims the message that their harm will not be taken seriously. I ask Palo Alto Online to follow its own policy and treat violence against women as it is: violence.
PAO policy: Web Link provides for the release of names in the case of "violent" crime and those involving public safety (this IS a public safety issue).
Police Report: Web Link "Detectives continue to investigate this case and are concerned that Moreno may have additional victims."
Registered user
Embarcadero Oaks/Leland
on Jan 3, 2023 at 3:24 am
Registered user
on Jan 3, 2023 at 3:24 am
It wasn't "A tech ceo in Palo Alto; " it was "Edward Moreno, CEO of Palo Alto’s SeaDrone Inc." Web Link
"The company’s website says, “SeaDrone Inc. grew (out) of a team of researchers from the Stanford University Robotics AI Laboratory. In 2014, aerial drone technology was progressing quickly. With prior experience developing ROVs (Remotely Operated Vehicles), O-Robotix’s founders saw how some aerial drone and AI robotics technology could radically transform the subsea robotics space.”
How can anyone provide information to the police without useful details and the fact that it wasn't some random tech ceo in Palo Alto and/or peepers? There might be quite a few tech ceo's here and it would be wrong to get the wrong peeper.
Registered user
another community
on Jan 3, 2023 at 6:20 am
Registered user
on Jan 3, 2023 at 6:20 am
The fact that he returned to Panera makes me wonder. Could he have a peeping drone there that needs to be retrieved?
More Stanford expertise ... maybe we should put his group in the Museum.
Registered user
Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Jan 3, 2023 at 7:34 am
Registered user
on Jan 3, 2023 at 7:34 am
Nowadays any man who wants to identify as a woman can access a multi-stall women's restroom. The stalls are not private with gaps at the sides and it is very easy to see underneath to see to look at feet and whatever else.
Safe spaces for women where men are not allowed used to be a given. Nowadays politicians can't even define what a woman is. There is a fear of saying anything against men going into women's spaces and there are men who will do anything to get access to restrooms, locker rooms and changing rooms. This is going to happen again and again. This is nothing about whether it is a tech CEO or a college student, or anything else.
Why should we not expect increases in these types of things?
Registered user
Barron Park
on Jan 3, 2023 at 9:48 am
Registered user
on Jan 3, 2023 at 9:48 am
@Bystander a man was caught in the alleged act of a sexual crime against a woman in a women's bathroom. [Portion removed.]
Registered user
another community
on Jan 3, 2023 at 10:23 am
Registered user
on Jan 3, 2023 at 10:23 am
Michelle - Woman to woman, you know darn well letting men into the women's restroom shouldn't be allowed. This has nothing to do with anti-trans and everything to do with protection of women. How would you feel if this was your mom, daughter, etc. who was victimized? Prior to this law, men could be stopped from going into the women's restroom. Now they have carte blanche to enter at any given moment. The law needs to be changed back to normalcy for the protection of women. [Portion removed.]
Registered user
College Terrace
on Jan 3, 2023 at 10:58 am
Registered user
on Jan 3, 2023 at 10:58 am
PAO is doing a disservice to its community by protecting alleged perpetrators.
How can the community provide helpful information or protect themselves without proper identifying information of the alleged perpetrator and a photo?
PAO's competitor does a better job on this front.
Registered user
another community
on Jan 3, 2023 at 12:51 pm
Registered user
on Jan 3, 2023 at 12:51 pm
In other countries and other cultures, bathroom business doesn't even come near the amount of paranoia and shame that are heaped upon children in America during the potty training phase that carries into adulthood. There is a simple remedy. Single stall, all-purpose rooms that lock. But that wouldn't prevent someone who's a whiz with a hidden camera from doing their thing.
Registered user
Walter Hays School
on Jan 3, 2023 at 12:59 pm
Registered user
on Jan 3, 2023 at 12:59 pm
Yes. I agree with what everyone has said regarding why you are protecting this sexual deviant...is it because he is a "Tech CEO?" and deserves special treatment because of this? It is clear that this person was involved in this crime. I frequent that restaurant and find it disturbing. Good for the victim for chasing him down!!!
Registered user
Ventura
on Jan 3, 2023 at 3:21 pm
Registered user
on Jan 3, 2023 at 3:21 pm
Further to Rebecca's comment, I agree that the public has a right to know the identity of the individual arrested. However, the problem is the Embarcadero Media policy (which only allows for "some exceptions, all of which are subject to our editorial judgment"), not that PAO did not follow it. The policy prioritizes the rights of arrestees over the rights of law abiding citizens who have a right to protect themselves against knowable harms. Male-on-male peeping in restrooms has been a serious problem for decades, and the crime is no less traumatic for male victims as it is for female ones. Let's hope for justice against Mr. Moreno and other perpetrators like him. Many kudos to the victim in this case for her courageous action. I hope she can avoid severe long term consequences.
Registered user
Community Center
on Jan 4, 2023 at 6:16 am
Registered user
on Jan 4, 2023 at 6:16 am
Rebecca Eisenberg: surprised to see your long comments here. You just got elected to represent our area on the ValleyWater Board (Santa Clara County Water District). San Francisquito Creek flooded on Saturday, Dec 31; and we have another big storm coming. You are responsible for preventing flooding in the district, including SF Creek. Why are you spending your time commenting on unrelated matters? You should be spending all your time learning about your new job, including San Francisquito Creek, all the work that has been done to date, and working to prepare for the storm and moving forward with flood control projects. We don't need your long paragraphs. We need action on flood control and storm preparedness.
Registered user
Crescent Park
on Jan 4, 2023 at 6:37 am
Registered user
on Jan 4, 2023 at 6:37 am
Resident could not have said it better.
Rebecca Eisenberg you’ve been oddly silent in the area you were elected to provide representation in…instead you are throwing your mouth around about PAO. Get to work.
Registered user
Old Palo Alto
on Jan 4, 2023 at 8:52 am
Registered user
on Jan 4, 2023 at 8:52 am
Rebecca wrote her comment at 12:36AM. I'd say she's as welcome as you are to comment on her off time.
Registered user
Embarcadero Oaks/Leland
on Jan 4, 2023 at 10:41 am
Registered user
on Jan 4, 2023 at 10:41 am
Rebecca also has been busily posting specific information to Crescent Park Neighborhood Association email list on coping with the floods they're experiencing.
Registered user
Meadow Park
on Jan 4, 2023 at 3:14 pm
Registered user
on Jan 4, 2023 at 3:14 pm
Yes, please, Hal. Do your research before you accuse others of not doing theirs.
Furthermore, just because someone has been elected to a specific office does not mean they are never allowed to comment publicly again on areas outside their political purview. Or is it just women with strong opinions with whom you have a problem, Hal?
And transgender folk are not the sex offenders peeping in bathrooms. They are just trying to live their lives and attend to their bodily functions like the rest of us. Can we please retire that absurd stereotype once and for all?
Registered user
Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Jan 4, 2023 at 4:33 pm
Registered user
on Jan 4, 2023 at 4:33 pm
I think it is true to say that nobody is fearful of transgender people.
I think it is also very true to say that there is a legitimate fear of people pretending to be transgender to gain access to women's spaces. All it takes to look transgender is a wig and some make up and hey presto, a free pass into any women's space! Transgender people and those who are pretending to be transgender look similar enough to make it almost impossible to prevent a pretender from entering a restroom, a locker room or changing room. That is a big concern.
Registered user
Midtown
on Jan 4, 2023 at 7:28 pm
Registered user
on Jan 4, 2023 at 7:28 pm
Wow! These comments are amazing. I recognize the same names over and over and can predict unfailingly what the slant will be. We have our knee-jerks on both sides of the political discourse. Liberals are often accused of being knee-jerks, but what else can you call someone who goes immediately into a rant about trans people being permitted into the bathroom for which they identify as their gender.
Registered user
Embarcadero Oaks/Leland
on Jan 4, 2023 at 8:04 pm
Registered user
on Jan 4, 2023 at 8:04 pm
" I recognize the same names over and over and can predict unfailingly what the slant will be."
That's because so many of us have gone elsewhere over the past 8? years and those of us still here are increasingly wondering why we're still bothering.
Registered user
another community
on Jan 5, 2023 at 5:11 pm
Registered user
on Jan 5, 2023 at 5:11 pm
What I don't understand is why every time there is a commotion about a sex crime, it inevitably devolves into "trans people are invading our space" comments. I personally don't identify as trans and don't pretend to know what they feel or think or believe about anything. Contentious arguing about trans-ness won't bring about a solution about who has the right to use which bathroom. The solution is, and I have said this before: SINGLE STALL LOCKING DOORS for bathrooms. I grew up in a large family with a revolving door on the bathroom. If any of us were uncomfortable about mixing genders near a toilet, there were no other options. Double sinks, shower and tub and one toilet meant there were always multiple people in there. I thought as a child and I still think now, single locking bathrooms are a SOLUTION. But I was probably spoiled and toilet trained wrong. As for this criminal coming back to the scene of the crime after being KNOWN as an offender, I believe he came back to get something he may have left behind. Like a mini camera. The kind that are invented by people like him.
Registered user
another community
on Jan 5, 2023 at 8:34 pm
Registered user
on Jan 5, 2023 at 8:34 pm
Some businesses do use single stall locking door restrooms, but it's not practical if you have a lot of customers. Can you see 15-25 women waiting outside a single stall at any business that's in the business of making money? That doesn't make any sense. Several stall restrooms for women and men exist to let several people in at a time, so you don't have to wait forever.
I've always wanted men kept out of women's restrooms. It has nothing to do with transgenders, and everything to do with men commit crimes like sexual assault, etc. The reason transgenders come up is because the law was changed to allow transgenders to use the women's restroom.
Men belong in the men's room and women belong in the women's room. Period.
If you want to stay safe, and a single stall locking restroom isn't available, your only option is not using public restrooms. Easier said than done, and a little over the top.
Registered user
another community
on Jan 6, 2023 at 6:13 pm
Registered user
on Jan 6, 2023 at 6:13 pm
Jennifer, in most men's bathrooms there is an expectation of ZERO privacy as guys stand shoulder to shoulder peeing. Why should there be stalls with no gaps and purse stands and freedom to undress from the waist down without having somebody eyeballing your junk? Why should women get special privileges? You saying men "belong" in men's rooms without even thinking about any need to protect males -- you ever think about what happens when a 12 year old boy is in a bathroom full of adult males? -- your demand is sexist and gives no thought to young men who can just as easily be preyed upon as a woman who is standing behind a locked door. Men get NO such protection.