South Carolina registered sex offender caught peeping at teen in Cracker Barrel restroom, taken down by her dad
DUNCAN, SOUTH CAROLINA: A group of fathers at a South Carolina Cracker Barrel took down a registered sex offender after he was caught peeping at a teen in the outlet's women’s restroom. Duncan Police Chief Carl Long said that the incident happened Sunday morning, September 20, when a 15-year-old girl complained to her father that Douglas Lane was looking at her while she was in the washroom. She said she felt something moving at her feet before realizing that it was a man’s head beneath the stall beside her. The victim’s dad then called a female worker at Cracker Barrel, located at 1525 E. Main St in Duncan, to get the suspect out of the restroom. When the father confronted Lane, he tried to escape, but other girls’ dads who knew about the incident, helped him take down the accused on the ground. They held him in the parking lot until police arrived at the scene. Cops found Lane’s phone on the bathroom floor, which was then seized.
Reports claimed Lane had not just victimized the 15-year-old, but other girls too. “I’ll never forget the way they looked after. They were traumatized,” a witness said as reported by WSPA. Another witness added: “The guy [Lane] came running, sprinting out the front door with a very bloody nose.” The video of the incident has also been shared on Facebook that showed the 53-year-old accused with a bloodied face sitting on the grass.
Long said that Lane has been charged with voyeurism, possession of marijuana, and drug paraphernalia. However, this was not the first time he had an encounter with the police. He is a registered sex offender and had earlier faced charges for peeping at least eight times.
Lane was presented before a court for a bond hearing on Monday, September 21, where he claimed that he did not realize he was in a women's washroom until he sat down in the stall. A bond of $3000 -- a $2,000 bond for the voyeurism charge and $1,000 each on the drug charges -- has been set for the suspect. He has also been asked to move to South Carolina and has to wear a GPS monitor all the time. Other orders for him included no contact with the victim or her family. Lane will again reappear in court on November 12.
In another incident, a Florida man who beat a man to death was charged with manslaughter. Victor Vickery allegedly killed Asaad Akar because he was peeping through the window while Vickery and his girlfriend Samantha Hobi were engaged in sex. The accused caught Akar red-handed and a fight ensued between the two that eventually led to the latter’s death.
The alleged incident reportedly happened in 2018, but Vickery was arrested and charged in 2019. When cops interrogated Vickery, he told them that Akar lunged at him, got on top of him, and ultimately started choking him. The suspect also reportedly kicked Akar and punched him "a handful of times" before he attempted to escape.