STAFF REPORT

Luis Ortega and a buddy went to a busy Mexican restaurant for menudo this weekend but ended up witnesses to a confrontation between a teen girl’s family and a man they said was trying to secretly photograph her under the table.

The man fled Taqueria Mazatlan, 1210 S. Interstate 35, after he allegedly tried to use a cell phone to photograph or video a 14-year-girl under the table at about 1 p.m. Saturday. The man ran out of the restaurant when the girl’s family wrest the cell phone out of his hand, San Marcos police Cpl. John Reeder said.

“We did not know what was going on, what the commotion was about, until he was out the door,” Ortega said. “The relatives were upset and saying he was trying to take pictures of their girl.”

The man is described as a dark-complected Latino with a Fu Manchu mustache. Investigators are trying to determine if he secretly photographed or videotaped other people for for sexual gratification, a state jail felony that has become an increasingly frequent charge as digital and cell phone cameras become commonplace.

In February, police arrested Michael Aaron McDonald, 23, who police said took photos of unsuspecting adults and children on a camera found in the women’s restroom of HEB, 200 W. Hopkins. The Canyon Lake man was identified after media outlets published photos authorities said McDonald took of himself that were later recovered from the camera.

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