Dad lying in wait catches accused Peeping Tom looking in teen’s window, Florida cops say

A dad waiting in his backyard spotted a man peering into his teen daughter’s window — then he grabbed a baseball bat.

Damon Smith, 29, is now charged with aggravated stalking of a person under 16, loitering or prowling, and first-offense voyeurism, according to Flagler County records.

Smith’s attorney information wasn’t listed in case records.

The Palm Coast father called deputies to report a prowler on his property the evening of Sept. 12, according to an arrest affidavit. He said he and his wife were sitting on their back porch when his wife spotted someone in their yard looking at them, the report says.

The next night, the dad felt “uneasy,” so he pulled up a lawn chair in a dark part of his backyard and sat there to see if the man would come back, deputies said.

At about 8:30 p.m., the dad said the man arrived wearing the same shoes as the night before and came within five feet of him, according to deputies. The man walked through the backyard, then turned the corner and started heading down the other side of the home toward the street, the father told investigators, according to the affidavit.

The dad got up and followed him, then saw the man looking into the window of his 14-year-old daughter’s room “with his hands cupped around his eyes,” deputies said in the report.

Armed with a baseball bat, the dad swung it at the man’s back, then the prowler started running away as the dad gave chase, yelling for someone to call the cops, investigators said.

The foot chase snaked through different yards until the dad said he lost the man.

When law enforcement arrived, the dad described the man, and deputies said they were able to identify him as Smith and interview him at home.

Smith told them he was walking between two houses when another man started yelling about him being by a window and began chasing him, according to investigators. Smith said he wasn’t being “nosy,” and the homeowner was chasing him as if he had broken into the home, deputies said.

Later in the interview, Smith said he gets a thrill from going around homes and was arrested, deputies said.

Palm Coast is on Florida’s north Atlantic coast, about a 60-mile drive southeast from Jacksonville.

This story was originally published September 19, 2024 at 11:20 AM with the headline "Dad lying in wait catches accused Peeping Tom looking in teen’s window, Florida cops say."