An off-duty San Antonio police officer detained a 36-year-old man inside a women's restroom at an arts-and-crafts store on the Northwest Side after witnesses said he was holding a cell phone over a stall divider while a woman was using the toilet, according to police. Shaken witnesses alerted store employees, who confronted the man and called officers to the scene. The suspect was taken into custody Monday and booked on a charge listed in jail records as attempt to commit invasive visual recording.
As reported by KSAT, officers were dispatched to the arts-and-crafts store in the 17700 block of La Cantera Parkway after a woman reported seeing a phone being held over the stall divider. An off-duty officer detained the man until SAPD units arrived. Charging paperwork reviewed by the station states that San Antonio police confiscated two phones, an adapter and a memory card. The suspect, identified in booking records as Jose Chavez Jr., denied using the phone to record the women. Jail records show Chavez was booked on the invasive-visual-recording charge.
Earlier Texas State arrest
Chavez was previously arrested in April 2019 after Texas State University police said he broke into dorm rooms at San Jacinto Hall and was caught watching women sleep, according to contemporaneous reporting. Authorities at the time said he was linked to additional burglaries at nearby apartment complexes and faced multiple burglary counts, including one alleging intent to commit a sexual offense. KTSA reported on those 2019 arrests.
Conviction in 2023
Public court records reviewed by KSAT show Chavez later pleaded to a burglary charge and was convicted of burglary of a habitation in June 2023 as part of a plea agreement that dismissed the sex-related counts. That conviction is listed in Hays County records, the station reported, and now appears alongside the new San Antonio allegation as authorities decide how to proceed. Chavez remains in custody on the current charge while the case moves through the local system.
What the charge carries
Invasive visual recording is codified under Texas law at Texas Penal Code §21.15, which makes it an offense to photograph or record another person in places where there is a reasonable expectation of privacy. The offense has been prosecuted as a state-jail felony in many cases; under Texas Penal Code §12.35 a state-jail felony generally carries a punishment range of 180 days to two years in a state jail and a fine of up to $10,000, according to legal sources. Legal analyses note recent legislative changes broadened protected locations and adjusted registration rules, factors that can affect charging and potential penalties in cases like this.
At this stage the publicly available records, including booking entries and charging paperwork reviewed by local reporters, are the primary sources of information. San Antonio police and Bexar County prosecutors have not issued a detailed statement beyond the booking information made available to news outlets; any new court filings or official comments will provide more detail about evidence and next steps.
