PD: Bend bathroom peeper spied on NWX houseguests

A Tualatin man who faces charges of placing a small video camera, disguised as an AC power adapter, in the public restroom of a Sherwood Starbucks also allegedly recorded guests using the bathroom at his NorthWest Crossing home, Bend police said Tuesday.

Richard Eugene Ipsen, 59, turned himself in Tuesday to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, Sherwood police said. He was booked on eight counts of invasion of personal privacy and eight counts of attempted invasion of personal property.

Sherwood police said they began their investigation on May 1st, when a Starbucks employee found a device inside a bathroom. It turned out to be a hidden camera which captured patrons on video when they entered used the public restroom.

With help from the public, police said they were able to identify Ipsen as the suspect who put the camera in the restroom.

“During the course of the investigation, Sherwood police investigators learned there were additional crimes and victims of invasion of personal privacy in Bend,” the Sherwood police news release stated.

Bend police Lt. Chris Carney said officers raided a home at 2325 NW Lolo Drive on June 14.

“Detectives found evidence that confirmed additional crimes of invasion of personal property had occurred in Bend, as there were recordings of house guests as they used the toilet and shower while staying at the” home on Lolo Drive, Carney said late Tuesday in a news release.

Deschutes County property tax records indicate the Ipsen Family Trust bought the two-story home, built in 2011, last October for $450,000.

Neighbors NewsChannel 21 spoke with on Tuesday said they didn’t know Ipsen or his wife Carol very well. They said he and his wife moved to the home in October, but rarely seemed to be at the house.

Neighbors said the curtains were always drawn over every window and door, and that Ipsen has other family that live in another home in NorthWest Crossing.

Other neighbors said Ipsen’s behavior didn’t seem odd at all. Some said they’d met him and his wife a couple times and they didn’t seem unusual. Neighbors also said many of the homes in NorthWest Crossing are second homes and often aren’t occupied year-round.

Carney said as the investigation continues, police ask anyone with information to contact the agency at (541) 322-2960.

Sherwood police released photos of the camera used in the case “in hopes of educating the community on the types of devices that are used. Police urge anyone that believes they may have been the victim of any similar crime to contact their local authorities.”