ARLINGTON — A 53-year-old New Hampshire man was arrested in a popular cafe in Arlington Center Saturday morning, after police say they discovered him videotaping women in the coffee shop’s restroom.
Joseph B. Hennessey, an Arlington Department of Public Works employee who has been out on worker’s compensation for more than a year, has been charged with disturbing the peace and photographing an unsuspecting nude person, according to Police Chief Frederick Ryan.
Police Captain Richard Flynn said Hennessey is the first person in Arlington to face misdemeanor charges under a recent state statute commonly known as the “upskirting” law, which prohibits the taking of secret photos or videos of “the sexual or other intimate parts of a person under or around the person’s clothing.”
According to Flynn, at about 8 a.m., employees at the Kickstand Cafe called police to report a suspicious person in the coffee shop, at 594 Massachusetts Ave., a short distance from festivities underway at the annual “Town Day” celebration.
Flynn said police also spoke with a female victim, who helped alert them to the illegal surveillance.
Police arrested Hennessey after discovering electronic devices both in the bathroom and on his person that they believe he was using to film and stream nude images.
Inside the bathroom, Flynn said police discovered a hidden camera they believe peeked out of a tiny hole near the center of a basket filled with fake flowers. Ryan said the flower basket “was strategically placed in the bathroom so as to capture women using the facilities.”
“This is a deeply troubling case, and I commend the victim for coming forward,’’ Ryan said.
Police did not know how many times the violation might have occurred, he said, and whether it had happened before Saturday. He encouraged any women who believe they may have been a victim to contact Arlington police.
According to Flynn, police also seized what appears to be a small camera with Wi-Fi capabilities police believe Hennessey was using to watch streaming video recordings from inside the bathroom, as well as a small cellphone.
“There is a lot of work to be done on the electronic piece of this investigation,” Ryan said. He said that investigators will subpoena the Internet service providers in charge of the cafe’s wireless network, as well as any providers Ryan may have had personal access to during his visit to the cafe.
Police in Salem, N.H., are working with Arlington police to try see if there is any probable cause for searching Hennessey’s home there, Ryan said.
“There’s no other place than the restroom that people have the greatest expectation of privacy, and this is a very serious crime,” Ryan said.
At about 4:30 p.m., at least 20 customers were drinking coffee, working on laptops, and chatting quietly inside the Kickstand Cafe. Several customers said they were unaware of Hennessey’s arrest but were disturbed by it.
“Any place like a coffee shop is going to act as an impromptu community, especially in a place like this that has a neighborhood. So then to have someone come in and shatter that illusion that this is a community. . . . It’s disheartening,” said Celia Richard, 32, of Arlington.
Richard, who recently moved from Boston, said she isn’t a regular at the cafe but hopes the incident won’t cause regulars to change routines or deter people from coming in.
Hennessey is being held without bail at the Arlington Police Department and is scheduled to be arraigned Monday in Cambridge District Court in Medford.
Joshua Gonsalves of Norwood became the first person to face charges under the state’s upskirting law in June after he allegedly used his iPad to snap a photo underneath a woman’s skirt at an MBTA station.
Alyssa Creamer can be reached at alyssa.creamer@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @lisacreamer.