SEATTLE — Seattle police arrested a man on Tuesday after receiving multiple reports of someone looking into windows of apartment buildings and houses in the University District neighborhood.
Bail for 26-year-old Patrick Schroedl was set at $100,000 in court on Wednesday.
While the judge ordered KIRO 7 to not show pictures of Schroedl in court, earlier this week the Seattle Police Department released a series of images of a suspect wanted in connection with multiple cases of voyeurism near the University of Washington.
As soon as those images were released by the media, Seattle Police Detectives received notice from a South Seattle bar manager and a soda company who claimed the man in the surveillance pictures was Schroedl.
“It is alleged Mr. Schroedl did return numerous times to the locations. He was harassing essentially and stalking in the buses and waiting in the bushes, looking into people’s windows repeatedly,” Deputy Prosecutor Anela Ramic said.
Schroedl’s private lawyer argued that because his client has no criminal history he should be released from jail without posting any bail.
The judge disagreed, calling the allegations a serious public safety concern. Not only because the suspect allegedly returned to the same windows multiple times, but because he was also believed to have been masturbating.
In addition to felony voyeurism, Schroedl also faces a potential charge of indecent exposure.
“This appears to be a pattern of what I would call compulsive behavior bordering on predatory behavior,” Judge Art Chapman said.
According to police documents, detectives believe Schroedl may be responsible for nearly 30 incidents of voyeurism in the U District since last spring. Documents also reveal Schroedl recently lived in a houseboat on North Lake Union – within walking distance of multiple voyeurism incidents.
“Hopefully he gets some kind (of) treatment for some severe problems with women and sexual behavior,” Helen Gilbert, who works in the University District, said.
Anyone with information or who believes they may have been a victim is asked to call Detective Gallegos in the Sexual Assault Unit at 206-684-9298.
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