Former Chick-fil-A employee accused of taking photos up customer's skirt

MILTON, Ga. — A former Chick-fil-A employee is facing felony charges after police say he took photos up the skirt of a customer.

Police tell Channel 2's Mike Petchenik it happened at the Chick-fil-A off Windward Parkway in Milton.

They said the suspect, Tyler Richins, took out his phone and snapped the photos as the woman waited for her order on April 16.

Police told Petchenik that Richins pretended to pick napkins up off the floor at the front counter and then stuck his phone up the customer's skirt.

Capt. Chalres Barstow said a witness alerted the victim and confronted Richins.

"I think it's excellent that we have people like that in our community, who are not only aware of what's going on, and seeing things that look suspicious, but willing to stand up and talk to the police and give us the information we need to prosecute these cases," Barstow said.

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The crime is commonly referred to as "upskirting." In 2016, a court of appeals ruled the practice wasn't illegal, but lawmakers passed an updated law against it in 2017.

"The behavior is illegal, first of all. Second of all, it's an invasion of privacy," Barstow said.

Petchenik tried to track down Richins to get his side of the story. He went to his Roswell apartment but nobody answered the door. When he called the number for Richins, Petchenik found it was disconnected.

Petchenik spoke with customers at the Chick-fil-A who were shocked to hear it would happen there.

"That's very unusual for Chick-fil-A. They screen their employees," Charles Thomas said.

Customer Summer Hull said she's glad police arrested Richins.

"That concerns you as a customer," she said. "And as a mother and a grandmother. If he did it to her or her, I'd kill him."

Chick-fil-A sent Petchenik a statement Wednesday, saying:

"The safety of guests is our top priority, and we take this incident very seriously. Upon hearing of the situation, we immediately investigated. The individual at issue is no longer employed at my restaurant."

Cox Media Group