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Provo police are investigating a case of a Peeping Tom lurking around the apartment of college women. The woman have called police twice, but the prowler got away. Police say it is not uncommon to see reports of Peeping Toms go up as college students return to campus.
For six nights in a row, the women who live at a house in Provo have had an unwelcomed visitor. BYU student Jann said, "We've contemplated the fact it might be a friend, but we don't think we'd have friends that would do that without first letting us know or trying to be funny. It's definitely not funny anymore."
In this case, it seemed the Peeping Tom wanted them to know he was there and made noise on the outside. And there was also a pattern to his behavior. Jann said, "About the same time every night, between 12:30 and 1:30, kind of when we are settling down and going to bed, it's almost like he's picked up on our schedule."
The women have set out items near their windows as a makeshift alarm to let them know if someone is outside. They've also covered their windows from the inside.
Provo police encourage students to look outside their new apartments to see for themselves what can be seen from the outside and then take precautions.
The arrest of a man last week caught looking into windows shows you have to look at all possibilities. Capt. Cliff Argyle, with the Provo Police Department, said, "He was using a 5-gallon bucket to stand on, to look into somebody's window. If you think standing on the ground, well I can't see in my window, picture someone dragging something over and standing on it."
The victims of this prowler are leaving on lights and making sure their doors and windows are locked, and they're ready to call 911 if he comes back. Jann said, "Don't be afraid to report something scary because something could happen, and it could be much more serious." Police encourage anyone who thinks a prowler is outside to call 911.
They also suggest people let their neighbors know, so they can be aware of what is happening in the neighborhood.
E-mail: spenrod@ksl.com
