A wide-eyed Emmy award-winning journalist was arrested for allegedly secretly filming people getting undressed at a local Oklahoma television station.
Darrell Lee Vannostran, 40, was booked after he was arrested for the use of photo or video equipment in a clandestine manner in a private place. The photographer and editor was nominated and won multiple Heartland TV Emmy Awards last year.
According to court documents obtained by The Oklahoman, janitorial staff discovered two video cameras in the private dressing room areas within KWTV News 9’s building in downtown Oklahoma City.
Authorities said it was not immediately clear whether the cameras recorded guests or staff at the local station. During their review of the video, they found individuals in “various states of undress,” according to The Oklahoman.
The cameras were attached by Velcro underneath clothing racks, investigators said.
“A review of the extracted video footage confirmed the cameras had been active and had recorded multiple subjects who used the dressing room areas in private settings,” the affidavit states, according to The Oklahoman.
According to The Oklahoman, following the discovery of the hidden cameras, police launched an investigation and began analyzing the video.
Investigators discovered the cameras were repositioned on two different occasions and accessed multiple times that were timestamped, the outlet reported.
The timestamps and dates allowed police to narrow down to one suspect – later identified as Vannostran.
Authorities, the outlet said, allege that Vannostran was inside the news station when not scheduled to work, entering the building and staying less than 45 minutes and allegedly making connections to the hidden cameras within the timeframes under investigation.
On Tuesday, Vannostran was arrested at his home in Moore, Oklahoma. He was still in custody at the Oklahoma County jail on Tuesday on a $25,000 bond.
“Griffin Media is aware of the arrest of our former employee Darrell Vannostran,” Houston Hunt, the vice president of marketing at Griffin Media, said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Our priority is the safety and privacy of our employees.”
“When the devices were discovered, we immediately contacted the police and have been cooperating fully with their investigation. We are very appreciative of the dedicated, hard work by the members of the Oklahoma City Police Department. Because this is a personnel matter, we can’t comment further.”
