Miami-Dade Fire Rescue lieutenant accused of secretly recording coworkers in station bathrooms

A Miami-Dade Fire Rescue lieutenant has been accused of secretly recording his coworkers in fire station bathrooms using a hidden camera disguised as a wall charger personnel declared Lieutenant Manuel Fernandez was taken into custody on Monday five days after a warrant was issued for his arrest He is charged with counts of video voyeurism after functionaries say he installed a covert camera inside employee-only bathrooms at two separate fire stations between February and April According to the arrest warrant the hidden camera detected by an MDFR employee on April at Station in Doral contained a memory card with more than video clips showing male and female firefighters in vulnerable situations Investigators stated the bathrooms were used exclusively by urgency personnel during their -hour shifts and are considered private spaces not accessible to the community Eleven of the casualties captured on video have been positively identified and all stated they never consented to being recorded the warrant states The footage reportedly shows an unidentified man in an MDFR uniform adjusting the device A subsequent review of shift records linked Fernandez as the only employee working at both Station and Station the two locations where the hidden camera was used Miami Dade Fire Rescue disclosed this comment which says in part Miami-Dade Fire Rescue is aware of the arrest of a former employee The individual was a firefighter who is no longer employed with the department MDFR fully cooperated with law enforcement throughout their inquiry which led to the arrest of the former employee Fernandez declined to speak to investigators during an April meeting at a recovery center in Hollywood but was observed wearing a silver watch similar to the one seen in the video footage the affidavit states Agents believe Fernandez intentionally installed the device to secretly record his colleagues while they used the bathroom It is unclear how long he has worked at MDFR and when his employment ended Fernandez has posted bond but has not been circulated from jail as of Tuesday evening