By ZEINAB NAJM
Times-Herald Newspapers
A Temperance man faces 50 felony charges of recording men in a Woodhaven bathroom following a complaint filed by a Dearborn Heights man who noticed himself being filmed.
Ryan Gaynier, 36, was charged in Woodhaven’s 33rd District Court June 26 with 25 counts of video voyeurism and 25 of using a computer to commit a crime.
If convicted, Gaynier faces four years in prison and he is also not allowed to have a cellphone or computer. His next court dates are July 9 and 16 in 33rd District Court.
Gaynier allegedly recorded men using the bathroom at Woodhaven Bowl-a-Rama, 20000 Van Horn Road, where he was formerly employed in the Winning Hand Poker Room.
He was fired and banned from the business. Woodhaven police found 150 video clips recorded from September to
December 2018 on Gaynier’s phone with 94 showing men urinating.
Woodhaven Detective Sgt. Jeff Brust told WJBK Fox 2 Detroit that police have almost 100 people on the videos who need to be identified. One of those men, a youth hockey coach from Dearborn Heights, filed a police report in December after noticing he was being filmed.
The coach went into the bathroom, noticed someone moving in an adjacent stall and a cellphone above the bathroom stall divider filming or taking photos of him.
When the coach started yelling at Gaynier to give him the cellphone, Gaynier remained in the stall as the coach waited outside, got a description and alerted an employee to call police.
Gaynier was questioned and arrested by police who also confiscated his phone after they asked him to unlock it and show recent photos and videos. During the questioning, Gaynier repeated that he did not use his phone to take videos or photos of other people.
The Michigan State Police Fugitive Apprehension Team arrested Gaynier at his house June 26 following repeated attempts by police to contract him for an interview before the felony warrant was authorized on June 14.
(Zeinab Najm can be reached at [email protected].)