HARRIS COUNTY, Texas – A man is accused of recording cellphone videos underneath unsuspecting women's dresses at an H-E-B, and exposing himself in the grocery store parking lot, according to authorities.
Merle Carol Heard, 34, is charged with improper photography/visual recording and public lewdness.
The offenses were reported at the store in the 10900 block of Louetta Road.
The first was reported on Aug. 13.
A witness in the meat department said she saw a man wearing a black shirt, blue jean shorts and a green hat holding a cellphone close to a woman's body. The witness said she realized the man was recording underneath the woman's dress.
The witness said she pulled out her phone and snapped a picture as proof of the incident, and then asked, "Hey, what are you doing?"
"He had entered the grocery store and videotaped with his own personal phone. He put the phone under a woman's dress. He did not know this woman, the woman did not know him. He began to video record," Ryan Trask, with the Harris County District Attorney's Office, said.
Heard walked quickly out of the store, the witness said.
The woman who had been victimized did not know what happened until the witness told her, authorities said.
"How can they stop it? Once they have that footage you don't know where it goes. That is the scary part. How do we stop and protect our rights from people being able to show this anywhere," customer Elizabeth Maida said.
Heard remained on the loose, but store personnel knew what he looked like and were on the lookout.
A loss prevention officer said she spotted Heard again at the store on Sept. 22. The officer said she saw Heard, once again, using a cellphone to record up an unsuspecting woman's dress. The loss prevention officer began to record what Heard was doing.
The officer told the store manager, who called the Harris County Sheriff's Department.
Shortly after Heard walked out of the store, an employee saw him standing near his car and closely watching a woman in the parking lot. The employee said that as he got closer, he realized that Heard was exposing himself, according to documents.
Heard was startled by the employee, jumped into his vehicle and drove away.
Authorities were able to identify him from surveillance and witness videos, and charges were filed.
According to court documents, Heard is a parolee from another state.
H-E-B released a statement to KPRC 2 that read, " At H-E-B, we are committed to providing a safe shopping experience for our customers. Our Loss Prevention team is working closely with the Harris County Sheriff's department in this ongoing investigation. "