Man took videos of nearly 50 naked women at SLO County gym, police say
A man allegedly recorded videos of dozens of naked women in the tanning booth room of the Arroyo Grande Planet Fitness last year.
An individual caught a Planet Fitness customer taking a video of a partially naked woman in a tanning booth on Dec. 29, the Arroyo Grande Police Department said in a news release Thursday.
The man fled the scene before officers arrived. Still, police identified a suspect using witness statements and surveillance footage.
Police obtained search warrants for the suspect’s home and electronic devices, where officers found more than 50 videos of female gym members in the tanning and red-light therapy rooms from January to December 2025.
“The suspect would enter the locked tanning booth room and record females who were in the tanning booth, nude or partially nude, without their knowledge,” the release said.
Police estimate that the man took videos of 47 people, most who have not yet been identified. Investigators are still trying to identify the women who appeared in the videos.
Police did not release the name of the suspect on Thursday because he had not yet been arrested, Sgt. Jeremy Burns told The Tribune.
Taking a video of an undressed individual without their consent is a misdemeanor, not a felony, Burns said.
According to Burns, officers can only arrest people for misdemeanors if they commit the crime in the presence of law enforcement. Officers didn’t witness the suspect taking the videos, so they can’t arrest him until the District Attorney’s Office issues an arrest warrant.
Police are waiting to identify more women in the videos before filing the case with the District Attorney’s Office, Burns said.
As of Thursday, officers had only identified one of the women from the videos, and it’s best practice to add the other women to the case before the charges are filed, Burns said.
Women who used the tanning or red-light therapy rooms at Planet Fitness in 2025 can contact Arroyo Grande Police Department Officer Brandon Earnest at 805-473-5110, extension 7021, or via email at bearnest@arroyogrande.org.
This story was originally published April 16, 2026 at 2:35 PM.
