APOPKA, Fla. — A 23-year-old man with a history of video voyeurism arrests and bizarre behavior was accused Thursday of pulling down pants of women shopping in Apopka to capture lewd images, police announced.
- Andrew Jon Paul Edwards arrested Thursday after alleged Dollar Tree attack
- Edwards is also suspected of pulling pants, filming behinds at Apopka Walmart
- Suspect is on probation for video voyeurism at an Orlando Walmart
Good Samaritans jumped in and restrained Andrew Jon Paul Edwards after a 63-year-old woman shopping at the Dollar Tree at 769 S. Orange Blossom Trail screamed at 11 a.m. Thursday.
"The victim advised me that the suspect came up behind her and yanked down her pants," an Apopka police report said. "When she turned around, it appeared as if he was trying to film her to include her exposed buttocks with his cellular phone."
This happened a day after Apopka police launched an investigation into a man taking up-the-skirt photos and forcefully pulling down the pants of women at the Walmart Supercenter, 1700 S. Orange Blossom Trail.
Officers are calling Edwards a suspect in those cases.
Edwards has a long history of arrests in just the last year alone and his illegal behavior is escalating, prompting the Apopka Police Department to express concerns about residents' safety.
The agency asked a judge to set a high bond after his most recent arrest.
He was booked into the Orange County Jail on charges of battery, indecent exposure/lewd and lascivious activity in the presence of an elderly or disabled person, disorderly conduct, and violation of probation.
He is scheduled to face a judge for the first time on these charges on Friday morning.
Apopka police said Edwards is on probation for a video voyeurism case on June 16, 2019, at a Walmart in Orlando.
“He admitted to the detective he had filmed approximately 20 women up their dresses on that date,” Apopka police said.
He also followed a father and his son, while filming the son, on March 10, 2019 as they went home. Then he filmed the boy’s 16-year-old sister. His DNA was found on the scene when he smashed open a sliding-glass door, police said. Officiers also allleged:
- He set a fire outside his neighbor's home on March 29, 2019.
- He was accused of filming women at a Publix on April 2, 2019.
- He allegedly screamed and scared residents at a community pool on July 31, 2018.
- He was charged with assault, resisting arrest without violence and shoplifting in separate incidents.
"In most of these offenses, the Defendant violated his conditions of pretrial release," police said in his most recent arrest report. "It appears the defendant's actions are escalating, and the Apopka Police Department fears for the safety of our citizens."
