Man arrested for video voyeurism in Publix and other stores now has 134 felony charges

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Thomas Ali Burns, 45, was arrested on August 14 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; he has now been charged with 67 counts of both video voyeurism and use of a two-way communications device to facilitate a felony after deputies reportedly found 67 similar videos on his computer.

The full details from his original arrest report are here; an Alachua County Sheriff’s Deputy revived the two-year-old case in June after employees of the Market Square Public (2755 SW 91st Street) reported a suspicious person. Employees provided surveillance videos from both May and June of 2024 that reportedly showed a man placing a cell phone inside a handheld shopping basket, then approaching a woman in a dress from behind and placing the basket under her skirt. A Publix employee told the deputy the man was “Ali Burns,” known to store management as a frequent customer who often buys lottery tickets.

A search warrant of Burns’ computer reportedly produced 67 unique videos that were taken with a camera pointed under a skirt. In several of the videos, Burns is reportedly shown looking down at the camera, showing his face.

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.

In the first post-Miranda interview with Burns, he reportedly identified himself in surveillance videos from the store and produced the same shirts he was wearing in the surveillance 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.

The arresting deputy reported that when he showed Burns the videos showing his face, he “began to have an emotional reaction” and eventually said he didn’t know why he does this and that he felt it was an addiction. Burns reportedly said he started doing this about two years ago when he saw a video of someone doing something similar; when he was shown store surveillance video of a man with a shopping basket behind women in dresses, he reportedly admitted that he had been behind them and had taken videos up their skirts.

Burns has now been charged with 67 counts of video voyeurism and 67 counts of using a two-way communications device to facilitate a felony.

Burns has two misdemeanor convictions (one violent). Judge Susan Miller-Jones initially set bail at $60,000 and ordered him to have no access to computers or the internet; he is now being held without bail.

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.