CORAL GABLES, FLA. (WSVN) - A man accused of peeking into the windows of occupied bedrooms in Coral Gables has been arrested.
He was taken into custody at his home at 2740 SW Second St., at around 5 p.m., Tuesday.
“It was hard to sleep for the past couple of weeks because you always worry that you’ll look into the window, and you’ll just see a face there,” said one of the victims.
What’s supposed to be a safe space turned into a horrific nightmare for two women living in the 5000 block of Ponce de Leon Boulevard in Coral Gables this past August.
“We heard about it before we moved in here, and it’s been in a lot of sorority chats, but just cruising through the area, it’s really uncomfortable,” Olivia Joyce, a student, said, “have to be more aware and just walk in groups and make sure there are lights on and whatnot.”
A peeping Tom peered into their home between a hurricane shutter and the window while they were changing.
The victim was so shaken up, she didn’t want her identity revealed.
“We always had hurricane shutters over our windows, but he actually went underneath the shutters and was pressed up right against the windows,” she said.
Coral Gables Police identified the suspect as Yoel Diaz Hernandez and added that he is responsible for at least two peeping Tom cases between January and August 2019.
“When he walks over here, he’s going towards the window,” Coral Gables Police Officer Kelly Denham said.
Police released a video showing the suspect attempting to look into another home this past March, but no one was there.
“I would be very scared,” Coral Gables resident Maria Gondra said. “You know, it’s kind of weird. It’s a violation of your privacy.”
“They were able to pick up a tag number based upon the information that our detectives received and then just followed through with that,” Denham said.
Hernandez faces charges of attempted trespassing on an occupied structure and voyeurism, which he admitted to police upon his arrest.
Court documents show that he has since bonded out of jail.
Coral Gables Police are urging anyone that may have been a victim to give them a call.
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