Persistent Peeping Tom captured again on video in Oakland neighborhood

OAKLAND, Calif. (KTVU) - An Oakland neighborhood is finding that neither cameras, cops, or news coverage will stop a persistent Peeping Tom. 

Wednesday night, the man who has been prowling Maxwell Park, above the Fruitvale District, was captured on video again. 

"How can you not worry about what his intentions are?" said homeowner Julie Mulkerin. “And it sounds like he's been doing this for a number of years."

Mulkerin's security system has detected the man two times in less than two weeks. 

She keeps her window shades down and her new camera system on, after realizing night-time noises alongside her house were not raccoons, but a man who climbed her fence and dropped into her yard to peek in her windows. 

"I saw him and started yelling and he went back over the fence," said Mulkerin of the incident two weeks ago. "The other surprising part is that he just seemed to casually walk down the street and walk away as if out for an evening stroll."

When Mulkerin bought her house two months ago, the seller mentioned "rumors" of a longtime peeper in the neighborhood, but said she had never seen him. 

"I will sleep best when we have caught the person," neighbor Hannah Kirk told KTVU. She says the same man – middle-aged, stocky, balding – has been spying on her for the entire six years she has lived in Maxwell Park. 

She, too, has captured him on video, sneaking across her backyard to lurk and look in her windows. 
Kirk put the images on the social network Next Door after he showed up two nights in a row earlier this month. 

After those videos aired on KTVU, Oakland Police reached out and promised residents increased patrols.
Neighbors have also mobilized a "Prowler Task Force" aimed at catching him.   

"I want him caught, and not doing this again, ever," said Kirk. “Because he's consistent, he's got a pattern, nothing's stopping him, not even a news story."

The most recent sighting shows the man pacing in front of Julie Mulkerin's house, then peering through her fence until she opened her front door and startled him. 

"I think everyone wants to feel safe at home so it's really disconcerting,” said Mulkerin, who was unnerved once again, but also reassured by her community response. 

"As soon as I posted it online, a number of neighbors came out and were canvassing the streets,” said Mulkerin. “The response from the neighborhood has been really impressive and really supportive." 

Police also arrived Wednesday night and drove the streets, shining flashlights in the yards, but had no luck locating the peeper. 

Residents expect by networking they'll be in position to catch him and make a citizen’s arrest until officers arrive. 

They just don't know when or where he'll strike next.