EXCLUSIVE: Grandmother Helps Nab Owasso Upskirt Video Suspect

Lori Fullbright, News On 6

OWASSO, Oklahoma -- The woman who was the victim of upskirting in Owasso talked exclusively with News On 6 Wednesday.

She was on her lunch hour, shopping in Hobby Lobby, when she noticed a man squatting down behind her, pointing his cell phone at her. Police say what she did next was exactly the right thing.

Waynette didn't freeze up, and she didn't ignore the guy. She started screaming, making a scene and chasing after the man, making sure other customers helped stop him before he got out of the store.

4/19/2011 Related Story: Owasso Man Arrested For Cell Phone Upskirt Video

"I was screaming to the top of my lungs, stop, stop him, he just took a picture up my skirt. Don't let him leave the store," Waynette said.

Waynette can somewhat laugh about the encounter now, but when it happened, she was shocked, scared, mad and felt violated, all at once. She was shopping on her lunch hour when she had a feeling someone was behind her.

"I turned around and this man was in a squatting position," she said. "He came back up and I thought at first he was picking up something. Then, I saw the phone and he took off. That's when it clicked that he had taken a picture."

She says he was messing with his phone as he ran. She didn't know if he was downloading or deleting, but other customers, mostly women, caught him and stopped him.

"I remember her up against him, saying, 'you're not leaving'," Waynette recalled.

She called police and was told she'd have to make a citizen's arrest since it was a misdemeanor, which she did.

Police interviewed Andrew Patton and say he admitted taking the videos. They say he had three of them, all showing Waynette and all were still on his phone.

"I never expected it to happen to me," she said. "I always am aware of my surroundings and it wasn't until later when I thought about him being there. It was just such a split second and he had already done the damage and I had no idea."

News On 6 crime reporter Lori Fullbright covered a case of upskirting several years ago and everyone, including the DA and judge were shocked to learn it wasn't against the law, if it happened in a public place.

3/12/2008 Related Story: State Law Doesn't Prohibit Peeking Cameras

After the stories, the law was changed to make upskirting and downblousing illegal, but, it's only a misdemeanor. That doesn't sit well with Waynette.

"He should learn his lesson and not get a slap on the wrist and he needs help," she said.

Police say Patton was caught two years ago in a Tulsa bookstore, taking pictures up women's skirts, but the photos were no longer on his phone when police arrived, so he wasn't charged.

Waynette, who has daughters and granddaughters, believes upskirting should be a felony, certainly on the second offense and believes the person should have to register as a sex offender.

A Tulsa County assistant DA said he absolutely agrees.