Police investigate alleged voyeurism at Saskatoon gas station

An employee of a Saskatoon gas station has been suspended after a troubling incident that allegedly occurred over the weekend.

Saskatoon police officers were called to the 400 block of Circle Drive East around noon Sunday after a 29-year-old woman reported being recorded while using the washroom.

Parkland Fuel Corporation, the parent company of Fas Gas Plus where the incident allegedly happened, issued a statement Tuesday afternoon.

“We have been made aware of the incident at our Fas Gas Plus location in Saskatoon and the alleged actions of one of our retailer’s employees,” the statement read. “The privacy and safety of our customers are an overriding priority and we strongly condemn this behaviour.

“While we are unable to comment on the ongoing police investigation, we are fully co-operating with the authorities and can confirm the employee in question was immediately suspended by the retailer, pending the police investigation. Any inquiries should be directed to the Saskatoon Police department.”

A person named Gabby Starr posted about the alleged incident on Facebook.

Starr said she had stopped at the Fas Gas for a fill and bathroom break after a weekend trip in Edmonton with her two daughters and their two female friends. Her Facebook post had more than 2,800 shares as of Tuesday morning.

Before the girls went in to use the bathroom, Starr said an employee insisted on refilling the paper towel dispenser.

Starr said she thought it was odd behaviour, but didn’t think much of it until she used the bathroom herself.

“I felt like something was wrong,” she wrote. “I start looking around and look above me while I’m sitting on the toilet and I see this little hole in the ceiling above the toilet. I slip up my pants and stand up to get a better look and I couldn’t believe it!

“I felt sick to my stomach when I realized it was a cellphone with only the camera part showing.”

When she left the washroom, she said the man was standing there waiting to get back in.

Starr did manage to snap a photo of the employee and the cellphone in the ceiling tile before calling police.

In a release, police said they arrested a 25-year-old man and seized his cellphone.

The suspect was later released while police sought a warrant to see the contents on the phone.