Hoosick Falls Man Allegedly Peeped

by Bea Peterson
Thomas McMartin of Hoosick Falls was charged last week in Troy Court with Burglary in the third degree and Unlawful Surveillance, both felonies. He pled not guilty and was later released on $5,000 bail. Rensselaer County District Attorney Rich McNally said, if convicted, McMartin could spend time in State prison. The DA had no further comment on the case as it is an ongoing investigation.
According to published reports McMartin is alleged to have hidden a motion activated camera in the ceiling of a women’s locker room near the Robison Pool at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
On the evening of March 8 a woman noticed something wrong with the ceiling in the locker room and, when she looked closer, thought she saw a camera lens. She reported it to RPI authorities who then notified Troy Police. There was a camera, and it had captured photographs of three to four adult women in various stages of undress. It also captured a photo of McMartin installing the device that day. The burglary charge stems from the fact McMartin did not have the authority or reason to enter the locker room where he placed the camera. Calls to the Troy Police Department for further information were not returned by press time.
McMartin had been employed as a heating and cooling supervisor at the College for five years. Upon the discovery and charges, he was fired.
Calls placed to the McMartin home were not answered.