Woman talks about upskirt photo ordeal

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - Police say a man targeted a woman on her lunch break in downtown Buffalo and used a recording device in his shoe to peek up her skirt.

Authorities were tipped off after the suspect, 28-year-old Daniel Knoble, was allegedly observed using an iPhone camera and a hole in his shoe to capture images.

Buffalo Police Business District Chief Brian Patterson said, "In this particular incident the individual was standing next to the victim, videotaping women in an indecent way."

Knoble was arrested last week and was charged with second degree unlawful surveillance and disorderly conduct. Authorities say the incident happened at Main and Court Streets last Thursday.

News 4 spoke with the victim by telephone, who says it happened while she was at the farmer's market on her lunch break.

She said, "I felt really violated and I felt kind of scared. I knew that there was somebody standing really close behind me and when I turned around, he was so close to me that I did bump into him. But I didn't know I was recorded or anything like that."

A person who works for Buffalo Place saw what was happening and confronted the man.

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The victim said, "I started walking away. I didn't think it had anything to do with me and he said to him, 'Get over here, get over here. We've been looking for you for weeks.'"

On his phone, police found pictures of the victim and other women. Some of the images and videos were shot up women's skirts, while others were candid shots from a distance.

"It's terrifying to think somebody can do that to you and have it be so subtle that I wasn't even aware it was happening," the victim said.

On the internet, News 4 found a picture of Dan Knoble connected to the website SocialCam.com, which bills itself as "the easiest way to take and share videos." So far, it appears he had not shared anything online. So how you can prevent this from happening to you?

"Not to walk paranoid. But certainly just being aware of your environment. What's going on in your environment. When you do that you lessen the chance of being a victim for many crimes," Chief Patterson said.

Any possible other victims are asked to call the confidential tipline at 847-2255 and report their incident.