UPMC Greene employee held for court on charges of filming in women’s restroom
A UPMC Greene employee accused of using his cellphone to secretly film inside a women’s restroom at the hospital was held for court on all charges Thursday.
The phone belonging to Daniel Rose, 46, of Vestaburg, contained an 80-minute video, according to testimony before District Judge Thomas Ankrom Thursday.
State police Trooper Amanda Cagno, who reviewed the footage, testified it started with Rose placing the phone in an air vent directly above the toilet. The recording later showed a female employee using the fifth-floor bathroom. A short time later, an employee discovered the phone in the vent and notified co-workers.
Eva Rex, who works in housekeeping at the hospital, testified Thursday she was with Rose and others when they learned about the phone. During the discussion, Rose had excused himself to use the bathroom, she said.
Thinking he might be retrieving the phone, Rex went into the women’s restroom, where she saw him doing just that, she said.
“I said ‘David, why are you doing that?’,” she testified. “He said, ‘I’m getting rid of it.'”
His behavior looked suspicious, Rex recalled telling him. When she told him the police would be searching the phone for evidence, she said, “he left with that phone.”
Rose said he had placed it on his supervisor’s desk, said Thomas Jensen, an officer at UPMC Greene.
At first, Rose denied the phone was his, telling officers he had left his phone at home that day, Jensen testified. While searching Rose’s car, officers called the phone, which they found near the rear tire on the driver’s side, Jensen said.
“He said it was his, he must have dropped it,” Jensen testified.
Court records said surveillance footage from the hospital showed Rose placing the phone near the car.
When Jensen asked Rose for the passcode to the phone, he said, Rose first gave him multiple incorrect ones, telling Jensen his brother would sometimes prank him by changing it.
“He eventually said that it might be his birthday, and that code did work,” Jensen testified.
Earlier, Jensen said, when the employees had gone to his office to notify him about the phone, Rose had tried to interrupt them.
“They were honestly panicked because of the nature of the cellphone being in a private bathroom,” he said.
Rose told police he had placed the camera in the vent because he thought his co-workers “were talking about him,” Cagno said.
Based on that reasoning, Rose’s attorney, Adam Belletti, asked Ankrom to dismiss the invasion of privacy charge, which requires the suspect to be seeking sexual gratification. He also asked for the dismissal of the disorderly conduct charge, saying Rose’s behavior during the incident hadn’t risen to that level.
Ankrom rejected those arguments. Although Rose had claimed he was trying to capture gossip, Ankrom said after hearing the testimony, “I find that hard to believe, myself.”
The defense called no witnesses Thursday. When Rose asked if he could make a statement at the end of Thursday’s hearing, Ankrom advised him against it.
Rose faces felony charges of use of intercepted communications and criminal use of a communications facility, as well as invasion of privacy, tampering with physical evidence and disorderly conduct.
Rose was released from custody shortly after his October arrest after posting $15,000 bail.
His employment status with UPMC Greene could not be confirmed with the hospital Thursday.
He is scheduled for a formal arraignment in Greene County Court of Common Pleas on Nov. 24.