Gainesville man arrested for video voyeurism after allegedly placing cameras beneath women’s dresses in retail stores

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Thomas Ali Burns, 45, was arrested yesterday and charged with video voyeurism after allegedly placing a phone in a shopping basket and then setting it on the floor under a woman’s dress at Publix; hundreds of similar videos on his computer indicated that he had a pattern of doing this in Gainesville stores over several years.

The victim told an Alachua County Sheriff’s Deputy that she was shopping at the Publix Market Square (2755 SW 91st Street) on July 21, 2022, when she noticed a shopping basket touching her leg beneath her skirt. She said she looked down and saw a cell phone in the bottom of the basket, with the camera facing up. She said she confronted a man about the phone, but he did not answer her and just walked away.

The victim said she saw the man get into a gray SUV with a specialty tag, and she provided the tag number to the deputy. The tag was reportedly registered to a relative of Burns.

Surveillance video from Publix reportedly showed Burns near the victim in the checkout line. He took a phone out of his pocket and placed it in the shopping basket, then stood behind the victim in line and put the basket on the ground behind her. The video showed him looking into a drink cooler and then picking up the basket and walking away. The deputy noted that for a brief moment, the screen of the phone was visible on the video, and it was “consistent with what would be a camera phone application.”

The victim immediately notified a Publix employee, and Publix managers reportedly told the responding deputy that there had been previous “suspicious incidents” involving the same man. On July 27, 2022, Publix managers learned of two more incidents that month involving the same man and the same behavior. Publix provided video for those incidents to the deputy. Publix also told the deputy that they knew the man’s name – Thomas Ali Burns – because he is a regular customer of the store and buys lottery tickets.

Once Burns was identified, the victim positively identified him in a photo line-up on July 28, 2022, and then the investigation reportedly stalled.

On June 4, 2024, a deputy responded to a call about a suspicious person at the same Publix, and a manager provided video of several incidents. On May 26, Burns allegedly placed a cell phone in a shopping basket and set it down underneath a woman’s dress, and the same thing happened on May 28. The manager reportedly said that he knew the man as Ali Burns.

Judge David Kreider signed a search warrant for Burns’ address on July 10, and it was executed on July 17.

Post Miranda, Burns reportedly identified himself in videos from the store and produced the same shirts he was wearing in the videos. He denied recording anyone and specifically denied recording underneath a dress. He reportedly explained that the surveillance video was at an odd angle, and he wasn’t as close to the victims as it looked on the video.

Burns’ phone was seized, but he reportedly provided two different incorrect passcodes, and deputies are still trying to access the data on the phone. However, approximately 2,500 videos were reportedly found on Burns’ computer that appeared to have been uploaded from the iPhone; there were also videos of Burns inside his house, wearing different dresses and dancing in front of the camera. The deputy reported that all of the videos showed either voyeurism victims or Burns himself.

There were reportedly 77 videos that had been made under skirts or dresses and 158 videos showing victims’ clothed buttocks or breasts; in the videos, Burns appeared to be following the victims around the store, filming them. In two of the videos, Burns reportedly looked down at the camera, capturing his face on the video, after moving the shopping basket from underneath a dress.

The videos appear to have been recorded at a number of different stores in the Gainesville area, including Publix, Walmart, Barnes & Noble, Aldi, and Target. A few videos were taken in the area of University Avenue and 13th Street. Other videos were reportedly taken at Volcano Bay in Orlando.

Alachua County Sheriff’s Office is attempting to identify other voyeurism victims. Anyone who recognizes Burns and believes they may be a victim can contact Det. Adkins at madkins@acso.us.

Burns has been charged with video voyeurism on a victim under 19 years old, video voyeurism on a victim 19 years or older, and use of a two-way communications device to commit a felony. He has two misdemeanor convictions (one violent). Judge Susan Miller-Jones set bail at $60,000 and ordered him to have no access to computers or the internet.

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.