Father detains ‘peeping Tom’ suspect in Tennessee bathroom
PLEASANT VIEW, Tenn. (WKRN) — A father of a 7-year-old boy detained an alleged “peeping Tom” in a bathroom until law enforcement officers arrived.
Body camera video from the Cheatham County Sheriff’s Department shows the moment when deputies raced into the restroom of a Pleasant View, Tennessee, convenience store Friday.
The call initially came into police dispatch as an armed man preventing another man from leaving a convenience store restroom. When deputies arrived, they found a man blocking the exit, accusing another man of watching his son use the bathroom.
Standing beside the far wall was the suspect, Brian Nicklas.
The 7-year-old’s father told deputies, “I made sure he stood in that corner where he was at. I told him he wasn’t leaving. He tried to leave, and I said, ‘No, you ain’t going nowhere but to jail.'”
According to the child’s father, he and his son were using the restroom when Nicklas came to a urinal next to the boy and blatantly peeked over the partition between the urinals to watch the little boy urinate.
When questioned about this by deputies, the 42-year-old Nicklas admitted it happened.
Nicklas: “He’s right, I was. I did actually peek at his, his boy.”
Deputy: “You peeked at him?”
Nicklas: Yeah, is that actually illegal?”
The boy’s father told investigators he was armed but he never pulled his pistol.
Father: “I told him, I said, ‘Look I got a weapon. This guy’s not leaving.’ I said, ‘I have not unholstered it yet, but if he tries to leave, I will.'”
Deputies asked Nicklas why he did it.
Deputy: “Like why?”
Nicklas: “I don’t think any reason would cut it anyway.”
Deputies asked the father if he wanted to prosecute, to which he responded, “Yeah, I want his a** in jail.”
With that, the deputies handcuffed Nicklas and escorted him to a waiting squad car.
Nicklas was charged with observation without consent, which is a misdemeanor.
Nicklas has no prior arrest history in the county.
He is out of jail on a $50,000 bond and due back in court on May 24.