A Georgia man was arrested after he secretly taped Hooters pageant contestants changing into their bikinis at the Fontainebleau hotel in Miami Beach, authorities said.
Ronald Rolfes, 31, was arrested Sunday at the hotel and faces one count of video voyeurism. He was recording contestants for the 2012 Hooters International Pageant while they changed in the Splash 5 room, Miami Beach Police said.
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Authorities found Rolfes sitting in a chair across from a camera, which was hidden by a backpack under a chair and gave him access to see behind a curtain, an arrest report said.
Miami Beach Police, who were at the hotel for an unrelated call, were alerted to Rolfes after a woman approached the officers and said that a man was recording her and other women as they undressed. She said she noticed the camera recording her, took a photograph of it and then ran to find security.
Rolfes identified the camera, which was plugged into an outlet, and the bag as his own, the report said.
The Fontainebleau declined to comment and referred NBC 6 to Hooters.
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Hooters said in a statement Monday that Waterbabies Bikinis, which made the swimwear that the contestants were using in the incident, is a third-party vendor that is not owned nor operated by Hooters.
Hooters said the safety and security of its employees is its top priority, and said it is fully cooperating with authorities as they investigate.
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Police, who reviewed footage of the man setting up his camera, said Rolfes revealed his motive to them.
“Man to man I did it because I’ve never had a girlfriend,” Rolfes told an officer, according to the report.
