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Paula Zahn Now
Caught on Camera
Aired June 30, 2006 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: And thank you for joining us.
Paula has the night off, but we have got a very special hour for your tonight. You're about to see the world in a whole new way, incredible situations caught on camera.
But, first, here's what is happening at this moment.
A new Web site warning Osama bin Laden is about to release another new message -- the posting describes it as a message to al Qaeda fighters in Iraq and Somalia. And it follows the release of another audiotape just yesterday.
The Army is investigating yet another report that U.S. soldiers killed Iraqi civilians, this time, the alleged rape and murder of a woman and her family last March in Mahmudiyah, south of Baghdad.
And here is what is left of a helicopter that clipped power lines near Cedar Rapids, Iowa. One member of an independent film crew was killed. Two others are critically injured.
The past few years have brought a profound change in all our lives. No matter where you go, no matter what you're doing, a camera is probably focused on you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS (voice-over): Cameras see everything, the mundane, but vitally important ebb and flow of city traffic, lines at a hamburger stand.
Amateur photographers show us the absurd, like this cable repairman who fell asleep on the job. Surveillance cameras capture shocking images, like this shooting at a Las Vegas casino. These pictures came out yesterday. Government agents videotaped brazen drug smugglers using a helicopter to drop huge bails of marijuana in Washington state.
When floodwaters inundated the Northeast, television cameras were overhead and at the water's edge. Cameras are everywhere. All these images came out in the past week.
Some of the most amazing images we have ever seen are the focus of this hour. We are calling it "Caught on Camera."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: And, first, some amazing video of thieves caught on camera. You may not realize that violent of organized gangs and professional crooks are stealing thousands in merchandise from stores. And they do it right under the noses of security guards and shoppers just like you.
Just a few days ago, police in Braintree, Massachusetts, busted three people they say were part a shoplifting ring. Investigators say just those three took more than $20,000 in clothing from two malls near Boston. Gangs like that cost businesses more than $20 billion a year. How do they get away with it?
Just take a look at this report from Deborah Feyerick.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Take a look at this surveillance video from a suburban shopping mall. This is no ordinary shoplifter. Just watch -- one, two, three pairs of shoes all stolen in less than a minute.
Now watch this woman, different store, different day, same technique. While her partner acts as a lookout, she slips box after box of perfume into a bag. Police call it "boosting," organized shoplifting carried out by trained gangs of professional thieves.
(on camera): How much merchandise are we talking about at any one time in an hour?
DETECTIVE DAVID HILL, MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MARYLAND, POLICE DEPARTMENT: In an hour, we have made an apprehension where we recovered $40,000 worth of merchandise.
FEYERICK: In a single hour?
HILL: In a single hour.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) security officer is holding an adult male.
FEYERICK (voice-over): Maryland Detective David Hill heads the Montgomery County Police retail theft unit.
HILL: ... target high-end stores...
FEYERICK: We met Detective Hill at a mall, but agreed not to mention which one. Stores are desperately afraid of drawing unwanted attention from gangs.
(on camera): So, one person is stealing. One person is doing surveillance. What are their roles?
HILL: You have collectors, packers, ones that take it to the car, others that are watching their backs to make sure they're not being followed by security.
FEYERICK (voice-over): Authorities say the gangs that have made the biggest dent are largely from Latin and South America.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My eyes never look down, always straight.
FEYERICK: This man, who we'll call "Carlos," says it's not unusual for his gang to hit seven malls in one day. He asked that we disguise his voice and face, afraid of retribution by those who run the criminal enterprise.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are very dangerous, because, in their countries, they rob banks, they kidnap people. They're drug dealers. If you fail them or if you -- you do something against them, yes. These people is dangerous.
FEYERICK: Authorities don't know how many gangs there are or who runs them. Yet, police believe organized shoplifting has touched nearly every major retail chain in the country.
Joe LaRocca is with the National Retail Federation, the group that represents many major store owners.
JOE LAROCCA, NATIONAL RETAIL FEDERATION: They are targeting particular types of merchandise. They have an order list. And they're going out and stealing what's on their order list.
FEYERICK: You name it, police say, they will steal it, jeans, lingerie, iPods, baby formula, over-the-counter drugs. The demand is endless, stolen merchandise then sold online, or at discount shops that fuel a black market.
(on camera): It looks like they have just been shopping in the mall.
(voice-over): Even with store clerks and shoppers around, it's surprisingly easy. Detective Hill showed us one of the tools the gangs use, boosting bags, ordinary shopping bags lined with foil to smuggle stolen merchandise out of a store.
(on camera): This is regular aluminum foil?
HILL: Right.
FEYERICK: Regular aluminum foil.
(CROSSTALK)
FEYERICK: So, somebody's put in a lot of work just to make this one bag.
HILL: Oh, yes.
FEYERICK: OK.
HILL: And what that does is, when they walk out of the store with merchandise that has sensors on, the alarms will not be activated.
FEYERICK (voice-over): The bag also boosts the thieves' efficiency.
(on camera): So, then, I go over here and I'm just kind of looking at these jeans and then I can very easily just take it.
HILL: Come over.
FEYERICK: You put it into the bag.
HILL: Drop it right in.
FEYERICK: OK.
And, while you pick it up -- now, this is interesting. So, you pick it up. Then you can effectively walk out.
HILL: I walk out, unless I want -- want more.
FEYERICK: And...
HILL: And they usually...
FEYERICK: And...
(CROSSTALK)
HILL: They're going to want this full.
FEYERICK (voice-over): This video command center at a major department store invited us to see this recent hit by a shoplifting gang.
(on camera): The woman in the white looked back at her colleague.
HILL: She gives the OK. The coast is clear.
FEYERICK (voice-over): Here's how it works. While her partner trails her, the woman in white picks up a black shirt. She holds it up to block the security camera, then loads her bag with perfume. She passes the perfume to a third woman, who switches it to a different bag, and walks out of the store.
HILL: Over 40 items of perfume were taken. And it was just under $3,000 recovery was made.
FEYERICK (on camera): Not bad for eight minutes' work.
HILL: Not bad at all.
FEYERICK (voice-over): These women were caught. But even when police do make arrests, most of these thefts are treated as misdemeanors. The criminals get no more than 30 days in prison.
Stephen Chaikin prosecutes organized crime in Montgomery County, Maryland. STEPHEN CHAIKIN, PROSECUTOR: When they get into the court system, since they have multiple names and Social Security numbers, it's often hard to know who we're dealing with. And, sometimes, they bond out. They get out of jail. We never see them again.
FEYERICK: The other reason shoplifting has turned epidemic, because of their competitiveness, stores are notoriously secretive, sometimes, even refusing to alert mall security or a store next door. That's now changing.
(on camera): So, basically, this database allows the stores to talk to each other.
LAROCCA: Absolutely.
FEYERICK (voice-over): Stores have joined together to create a national crime database. Retailers that are targeted can now post information, like the type of crime, where and how it was committed, and a description of the criminal.
LAROCCA: We need to be able to go after these individuals. We need to put them behind bars for their crimes. And we need to keep them out of our retail stores.
FEYERICK: Carlos, who was recently arrested and is now awaiting trial, says it's not so much the individual, but the gang leaders.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These people, I don't think they're going to stop.
FEYERICK: And even stores and police acknowledge, it will take a very long time to bring organized shoplifting under control.
Deborah Feyerick, CNN, Maryland.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: And then there's this.
With the rise of the super shoplifters, big retailers like Sears and The Gap are fighting back with their own special investigative teams. Still, they prefer to keep their operations low-key and to keep their strategies secret.
Now to our nightly countdown of the top stories of CNN.com. Nearly 18 million you checked out the site today.
At number 10 -- in South Carolina, a close call for a dog that nearly lost a fight with an alligator. The gator grabbed the dog when it was swimming in a lake near Charleston. A man who saw what happened jumped in the water and was able to rescue the dog, just in time.
At number nine -- word that the 19-year-old Israeli soldier being held captive by Palestinian militants is alive. Israeli television reports that a doctor has treated Corporal Gilad Shalit's injuries. On Wednesday, Israel launched a massive military assault in Gaza to rescue the soldier.
Numbers eights and sevens are next, plus dangers you have only heard about now caught on camera.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS (voice-over): The astonishing view from the dash, from a taxi driver's nightmare passenger to incredible highway collisions, all captured on tiny dash-mounted cameras. If more cars and trucks had them, would our roads be any safer?
And video voyeurs -- an explosive phenomenon called "upskirting." Hidden cameras roll while you change, while you walk, even while you shop. How can you avoid becoming someone's Internet fantasy?
All that and more "Caught on Camera" -- just ahead.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: You simply won't believe what some people set out to catch up on camera -- coming up, video voyeurs, a story that will make ladies think twice about what you wear at the mall.
Now here's what's happening at this moment.
The violence in Gaza between Israeli forces and Palestinians is on hold tonight, but now a startling new demand -- three militant groups blamed for kidnapping an Israeli soldier are demanding freedom for 1,000 Arab prisoners in Israel. The United States is urging both sides to end the crisis through diplomacy.
In Miami, prosecutors say the ringleader of seven suspected terrorists talked of freeing Muslim prisoners from a jail in Chicago. A judge may decide next week whether to release the suspects on bond. They pleaded not guilty today.
And space shuttle Discovery has the green light for launch tomorrow afternoon at the Kennedy Space Center, weather permitting. NASA's top administrator says the media may be making too much of the internal debate over how well a problem with foam insulation has been fixed.
"Caught on Camera" is our theme tonight.
A few moments ago, it was shoplifting gangs caught in the act -- now some more stunning pictures of criminals at work. And you will want to remember this the next time you get into a taxicab, because now cab owners are putting cameras in their cars. It's helping solve crime and maybe save lives.
Here's consumer correspondent Greg Hunter.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) GREG HUNTER, CNN CONSUMER CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Las Vegas, this city truly never sleeps. It is a playground for adults. Thousands of tourists come here to have fun, hoping to strike gold.
But when night falls, it can be a dangerous place.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (EXPLETIVE DELETED) Drop me off.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (EXPLETIVE DELETED) Drop me off!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got problem here.
(CROSSTALK)
HUNTER: This is not a scene from an episode of the HBO television show "Taxicab Confessions."
Watch again.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (EXPLETIVE DELETED) Drop me off!
HUNTER: The cab driver is being attacked. The crime was caught on camera. And the police have a warrant against the attacker, thanks to a new technology that keeps drivers a little safer.
A camera is mounted right by the rearview mirror. It provides a wide-angle view inside the vehicle.
Michael Taylor has one in his taxi. Months ago, he was a victim of crime.
MICHAEL TAYLOR, TAXI DRIVER: And it was a good ride. It would have been a good ride, so you know, I took him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, we are down in 3700 (INAUDIBLE)
TAYLOR: We had some great conversation on the way there.
HUNTER: Only three months on the job, he stopped for what he initially thought was just another night fare. But when they reached the destination and Michael asked for his fare, the ride turned ugly.
TAYLOR: I turned around. He's like, no, give me the money. And that's when I turned around and looked back at him. And he had a knife in his hand.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just give me your money. All of it. All of it.
HUNTER: Take a look at his left hand. It's a knife.
(on camera): What raced through your mind?
TAYLOR: The first thing that ran through my mind was like, oh, God, this can't be happening to me. I'm never going to see my twins again. I'm not going to see my kids get to grow up.
HUNTER (voice-over): Michael was unhurt, but the camera captured it all.
(on camera): One of the features of this video system is, every single time a person opens the door, a camera automatically goes on inside, and that way each and every person is on video.
(voice-over): The robber realized that. At knifepoint, he told Michael to rip the camera off the windshield.
TAYLOR: I'm trying to pull it. You see I'm trying to pull it off, man, all right?
HUNTER: He tried, but it didn't budge. The robber got away with $300, but without the camera. Now police have his picture and are looking for him. While it may not stop a determined criminal, drivers say cameras serve as a deterrent.
TAYLOR: He knew it was there, but he was desperate enough to do it anyway. And not too many people are going to take that chance, when they know they're caught. I mean, if you're caught, you're convicted.
HUNTER: And cameras are aren't capturing crime just in Vegas.
When this young group got into a cab in West Virginia, it seemed like they were just having a fun night out. But take a look at what happens next. The girl in the middle of the back seat pulls out a gun right there and starts firing.
(CROSSTALK)
(GUNSHOTS)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: God damn!
(GUNSHOTS)
HUNTER: Look at the cab driver. He is terrified. Nobody was hurt, but the gunslinging woman was convicted of carrying a dangerous weapon, and she served time in jail.
Driving a cab is one of the most dangerous jobs in America, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Drivers work alone. They deal in cash. And they often work at night.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Chavez (ph) was shot while working as a taxi driver.
HUNTER: So, it's no surprise that violence against cab drivers is a common event, especially where there are no safety measures, like cameras. In January, a driver in Palm Beach, Florida, was robbed and fatally shot.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The shots rung out.
HUNTER: In Jacksonville, Florida, a taxi driver was killed. Her body was later discovered in the trunk of her car.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The people who committed this crime, to be -- brought them to justice.
HUNTER: In Seattle, the brutal murder of a taxi driver changed the law there to require cameras in cabs. But in cities with little or no safety measures, taxi drivers remain vulnerable.
(on camera): Did you think he was going to kill you?
SILVANA SANDRI, FORMER CAB DRIVER: Yes.
HUNTER (voice-over): Silvana Sandri, a former cab driver from Orlando, Florida, was working the night shift on her wedding anniversary in 2004. She thinks a camera could have prevented what happened to her.
SANDRI: He opened the door, but he still had the knife on my throat. And he pushed me out of the car. Then, with his other hand once he got out, he grabbed me by the hair and pulled me out of the car. Then, he sexually assaulted me outside of the car.
HUNTER: She is now suing the cab company she used to work for, for not providing safety measures.
(on camera): So far, he's gotten away with it.
SANDRI: Yes.
HUNTER: You think they would be able to find him quicker with a photo?
SANDRI: Absolutely.
HUNTER (voice-over): Back in Las Vegas, authorities say cameras are effective in fighting crime. Since they were installed in more than half the taxis in the city, cab robberies have dropped almost 70 percent.
(on camera): You think you can attribute that to cameras in cabs?
ROB STEWART, NEVADA TAXICAB AUTHORITY: I think so. I think among the factors, cameras absolutely.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why don't you shut your mouth (EXPLETIVE DELETED)
HUNTER (voice-over): Just like this man. He tried to open the cab's door while it was moving.
UNIDENTIFIED: Touch me once.
HUNTER: When the driver told him to close it, he punched him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He punched me.
HUNTER: Because of this video, police found out who he was. He later pled guilty to battery.
They say what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. But now, if you commit a crime in a cab, don't bet on it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: One more thing: Bryan Pacelli is still slowly recovering from nerve injuries, as well as memory loss and anxiety. He hasn't gone back to work, but he hopes to as soon as his health allows him. And no lawsuits have been filed in his case.
So many things can go wrong on the highway. Have you ever wished that there was a high-tech way to cut down on traffic accidents? You may be looking at it. That's next in our "Caught on Camera" hour.
And, later, a story that is so creepy, it could change the way you dress and how you act at the mall.
First, number eight on our CNN.com countdown -- NASA's efforts to keep birds away from tomorrow's shuttle launch. Workers have been rounding up vultures living at the Kennedy Space Center. A turkey buzzard flew into Discovery during its launch last July, but there was no damage.
And number seven, we mentioned it at the top the hour. An Islamic Web site says al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden will soon release a new message dealing with Iraq and Somalia. Bin Laden's latest audiotape was released late yesterday.
Stay with us. Numbers six and five are straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Even on the highway now, eyes are watching you. Not only are traffic cams tracking backups, but cameras mounted on other people's dashboards are capturing frightening pictures of disasters on the road.
Once again, here is consumer correspondent Greg Hunter with another story "Caught on Camera."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HUNTER (voice-over): It was another busy morning on New York's Long Island Expressway, thousands of commuters making their way to work.
BRYAN PACELLI, CAR CRASH VICTIM: I should have been dead. There's no doubt. I still don't understand how I'm not. Don't understand it.
HUNTER: The last thing Bryan Pacelli, a father of two, remembers is traffic slowing down.
(SCREAMING)
HUNTER: Bryan is driving the black Audi. Watch the semitrailer on the right, all of a sudden, cutting through two lanes of traffic. Bryan's car is trapped.
PACELLI: They put a blanket over me, and I saw them starting to cut up the car. I remember that. I remember...
HUNTER (on camera): Did you know it was bad?
PACELLI: What?
HUNTER: When you -- when you saw them starting to cut -- cut you out of the car?
PACELLI: Yes, I knew something was bad. I knew it was bad.
HUNTER (voice-over): But it could have been worse. Safety experts say that, all too often, the drivers of private cars in accidents with trucks or larger vehicles don't live to tell their story.
Bryan Pacelli was lucky to survive, although he doesn't remember much of the accident. But he knows exactly what happened, thanks to a video camera installed on the windshield of this bus traveling in the left lane. The bus ended up pushing Bryan's car under the semitrailer.
(on camera): Every year, the most accidents in New York state happen in Long Island. In one year, there were 45,000 crashes. Many of those happened right here behind me on the Long Island Expressway. More and more of those wrecks are being caught on video. And it teaches us two things: what happened and, more importantly, how they might be prevented.
(voice-over): For example, driving in the rain, distracted driving, or not keeping a safe distance from the vehicle in front, mistakes which could be avoided.
Bill Schoolman owns a New York transportation company. A few years ago, he installed cameras in all his vehicles.
BILL SCHOOLMAN, PRESIDENT, CLASSIC TRANSPORTATION: It's a great business decision, because we save lots of money on our insurance and all direct costs also of operating a bus. You save money on front ends, tires, fuel. There's lots of direct benefits that operationally you get when people drive more safely.
HUNTER: Schoolman says he saves up to $250,000 a year on insurance. He's so enthusiastic about the cameras, he's now working as a part-time consultant for the company that makes them. The cameras help him keep an eye on his drivers.
SCHOOLMAN: This camera, when mounted on the windshield, is the cop in their rearview mirror. They drive more safely, and this camera is on all the time and watching.
HUNTER: That metaphorical cop in the rearview mirror didn't keep this taxi driver from dozing off at the wheel while he was working. Watch what happens next. As soon as he falls asleep, he loses control. It's hard to believe he walked away unhurt. But when his boss saw the video, he lost his job.
We asked Joan Claybrook, a longtime road safety advocate and former head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, to look at some video like this one from a camera in this New Jersey limousine. The driver says the car on the left was trying to cut him off and almost crashed into him. He slammed into the pole on the side of the road. The car caught fire.
JOAN CLAYBROOK, PRESIDENT, PUBLIC CITIZEN: Incredible, just coming out of nowhere and passing on the right.
HUNTER (on camera): Totally out of control.
CLAYBROOK: Right, going too fast and just...
(CROSSTALK)
HUNTER: And then blows up.
CLAYBROOK: It blows up.
HUNTER (voice-over): How did this end? The limo driver jammed his brakes on to avoid crashing into the car. The driver of the car that blew up walked away with no real injuries.
Next, we asked Claybrook to review Bryan Pacelli's accident.
CLAYBROOK: I don't think, in all the years that I have driven, I have ever seen a truck behave that way. This video tells the real story. That's why it's so valuable.
HUNTER: Safety experts, like Claybrook, believe video cameras can help keep all of us safer.
CLAYBROOK: I think you can use it for training of drivers, because it will reveal what the mistakes are, what the problems are. Two, you can use it for the police to figure out exactly what happened at a crash.
PACELLI: Bryan says the video has changed his view of other drivers.
HUNTER (on camera): What does this video want to make you do?
PACELLI: It makes me angry. It makes me want to, you know -- it's it's -- it's made -- it's turned me into a -- a safety advocate. There's plenty of people like me every day next to those, you know, trucks or buses. That was -- that was a loaded gun rolling down the street, and nobody knew.
HUNTER (voice-over): Greg Hunter, CNN, Old Westbury, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Remarkable to be alive.
And there's this. A federal study says mistakes by drivers are 10 times more likely than anything else to cause crashes involving trucks. So dash cam tapes can clearly teach all of us some life- saving lessons.
Still ahead on our special hour, "Caught on Camera," you may be the victim of something that's shocking and repulsive, yet not even know it. Next, are you being stalked by a video voyeur?
Also a violent video craze in Europe. It's called happy slapping and there is nothing happy about it.
Plus, a little piece of technology that helped save a woman's life. Do you have one? Stay with us.
Before that number six on our CNN.com countdown. New details revealed today in a Tennessee court about the killing of a pastor. Police documents say Mary Winkler told detectives she shot her husband in the back after an argument about money. She has been charged with murder.
And five, an autopsy shows that a 12-year-old boy who died after riding a Disney MGM roller coaster in Orlando, had a congenital heart defect. Disney reopened the ride today after determining that nothing mechanical had caused the boy's death.
Number four on our list, when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: In this half hour of our special "Caught on Camera," could millions of people on the web be watching you in your underwear? In just a minute, we'll take you to some the darkest corners in the Internet.
The U.S. has inherited all sorts of fads from England, but here's one that we definitely don't want. It's called happy slapping. Can it be stopped before it gets here? And at top the hour on LARRY KING LIVE, memories the late Patsy Ramsey and the mysterious death of her daughter, Jon Benet.
Now, here's what's happening at this moment. The waters are receding but a wave of damage estimates is just coming in after devastating floods in the northeast. Governors from New York to Virginia could ask for hundreds of millions of dollars in disaster aid.
And last one in, as you know what, scientists released nearly a quarter a million baby sea turtles on beaches in Texas, and Mexico. It's the largest number in a single day and all part of a decades long effort to help the endangered Kemps-Ridley (ph) sea turtle. And here is our nightly look at gasoline prices across the country, our "Crude Awakenings." The states in red have today's highest prices. States with the lowest are in green. Today's average price for unleaded regular is $2.92 a gallon. That's a penny more than yesterday and five cents a gallon more since Monday.
Maybe we should call our next segment, caught with camera. A new generation of small video cameras has triggered a shocking new trend, something called upskirting. Using hidden cameras to secretly take intimate picture of women and girls from below. Not only can they wind up on the Internet but incredibly, in most of the country, the secret photography isn't even against the law.
Here's Jonathan Freed.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JONATHAN FREED, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For this mother and daughter, a day of prom shopping at the local mall turned into a frightening and humiliating experience with video voyeurism. Up close and very personal.
BUNNY BRUNT, MOTHER OF UPSKIRTING VICTIM: He had a bag and he was going like this. He wasn't touching her, he was just going like this and he had I camera rigged at the bottom of it with the lens sticking up.
FREED: Rocky Brunt was 18 years old and shopping for prom shoes when a man targeted her with a hidden camera pointed right up her skirt.
(on camera): You had no clue?
ROCKY BRUNT, UPSKIRTING VICTIM: He was right behind me and I had no idea.
FREED: But her mother's instincts were already tingling.
B. BRUNT: With this guy standing so close to my daughter, and myself, I turned around, and gave him a look. I grabbed her and I said, let's go somewhere else.
FREED: When the man followed the pair into a jewelry store, Bunny Brunt trusted her gut and confronted the stranger.
B. BRUNT: I looked at him and said, what in the hell do you got in that bag? He said nothing. He turned around and ran. And I just went through the wall screaming stop that man, stop that man.
FREED: So, it was right around here. You confront him in this store, and then you go charging off right here through the hallway.
B. BRUNT: Yes, screaming.
FREED: Bunny chased the man halfway through the mall until an onlooker tackled him and her worst fears were confirmed. B. BRUNT: He grabbed the bag and he looked in and I said what is it? He said it's a video camera.
FREED (voice-over): Rocky Brunt had become a victim of something called upskirting. A practice so popular among video voyeurs that a simple Internet search for the term upskirt reveals more than 8 million websites.
(on camera): When you had a chance to see that tape for the first time, what were the feelings that you were experiencing?
R. BRUNT: I felt really embarrassed and violated and I was just, shocked. I didn't know what to think. I was sitting there frozen, staring at screen. Like, kind back tears, because I had to watch it with police sitting in the room.
FREED (voice-over): It was a traumatic exposure to video voyeurism. A crime with victims who, like Rocky, often don't even know they're victims and an online audience with an apparently a veracious appetite for fresh material. Dr. Timothy Foley studies sex offenders and voyeurs. He believes that peeping can become addictive.
TIMOTHY FOLEY, PHD., F&P FORENSIC ASSOCIATES: And they'll repeat it and repeat it continually until it becomes compulsive behavior. For some individuals, it will last a lifetime. For many individual, they will try to resist the urges, generally, unsuccessfully.
FREED: Foley also warns that a compulsion to peep can lead to more dangerous behavior.
FOLEY: Voyeurism can be a gateway for exhibitionism, rape, certainly child molestation.
FREED: Today's peeping Toms, though, are trading in the traditional ladder and binoculars for an arsenal of high-tech tools, including camera phones and pinhole cameras that can be carried and hidden almost anymore.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It actually holds the camera inside the hat.
FREED: Take this video, recorded by a shoe camera in California stores and busses. Police say one man taped about a thousand hours of unsuspecting women by running a wire from his shoe, up his pant leg and into a recording device in a backpack.
Another voyeur in Louisiana, installed a pinhole camera behind a mirror in his store's dressing room. Tips on acquiring tools and the tactics to use them are traded freely online, with suggestions ranging of how to upskirt in trains and cars to finding the perfect mini cam for perverse pursuits.
FOLEY: This is a game and there's probably a certain amount of one-upsmanship for better, and riskier depictions of a people in a variety of different situation .
KEITH DUNN, V.P. MAIN STREET SAFETY: The biggest lesson is to not to stand in front and talk to anyone for a long period of time that you really don't know.
FREED: Keith Dunn is a private detective who specializes in video surveillance. He's made a business out of teaching women how to avoid becoming victims.
DUNN: This is a cellular phone, disguised. It's actually a pinhole camera, disguised as a cellular phone. And right now if you look at the camera, you would never know that I'm videoing you right now.
FREED: Now how could a voyeur make use of this.
DUNN: Easy, if I bend down to tie my shoe, you will not have a clue that I'm shooting up to your jacket. Or if you had a skirt on, for instance, up your skirt.
FREED (voice-over): The law has been slow to keep pace with rapidly-changing technology. Only about a quarter of the 50 states have laws specifically banning the practice in public places, where there is usually no legal expectation of privacy. And that means if a video voyeur tapes you in a mall, on a street, or in a park, there's a chance he's not even breaking the law. Bunny Brunt learned that the hard way.
(on camera): How did you feel about the sentence that he got?
B. BRUNT: I thought this guy would just get the books slammed at him. And it didn't happen that way.
FREED (voice-over): He was Jeffery Swisher. Married, a father, and never faced charges stemming from video voyeurism because Virginia state law at the time only bans surveillance in private places, like dressing rooms. Swisher was only convicted of disorderly conduct for running through the mall and served just ten days in jail, despite his videotaping played in court. The Associated Press reported Swisher, partially blamed rocky for wearing, quote, a four inch skirt and a micro-thong.
(on camera): Did you ever feel this is in any way your fault.
R. BRUNT: No, there are girls everywhere wearing skirts and there is nothing wrong with that. It's something wrong with the people who are watching you in a weird way. You have to watch out for them.
B. BRUNT: I mean, it is flashing. That shouldn't make some predator come after your child.
FREED (voice-over): The Brunt family fought back, working with lawmakers to toughen Virginia's peeping Tom laws.
(on camera): You changed the law. Beyond that, what is your message to people like him that are still out there?
B. BRUNT: They just think it's a game. They're voyeuristic. And they think it will not hurt anybody because it's just an image. It's more than an image. It could stick with them the rest of their life. This will stick with us for a really long time.
FREED: Jonathan Freed, CNN, Norfolk, Virginia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: And one more thing, now it is a crime to secretly capture images of people on federal property. But state laws are still only catching up with upskirting.
Still ahead, hooligans with video cameras. In a violent fad called happy slapping. But first, let's take a "Biz Break."
With the fourth of July holiday ahead, stocks fizzled. The Dow lost 40 points, the Nasdaq and the S&P closed slightly lower. The market is closed on Tuesday with an abbreviated session on Monday. A Friday legal surprise for convicted Enron executive, Ken Lay and Jeffrey Skilling. Prosecutors now want them to cough up an additional $183 million to make up for stock bonuses that they made through fraud at Enron.
General motors' board gets some advice from billionaire Kirk Kerkorian today and GM's shares soared. Kerkorian is pushing for a three-way partnership with Nissan and French automaker Renault.
The dollar tumbled for a three-week low against the Euro and the Japanese Yen. Currency traders seemed to be betting that the fed won't raise interest rates again in August.
Next in our special hour, "Caught on Camera," pictures that are shocking, brutal and real. Will this frightening fad make it across the Atlantic?
Later on, a high-tech rescue that wouldn't have been possible just a few years ago. Will our story send you to the nearest computer store to get this high-tech device?
Now number four on our CNN.com countdown. A Florida judge today threw out the confession of a man accused of killing and raping 9- year-old Jessica Lunsford. John Couey, a convicted sex offender, confessed to police, but also asked to speak with an attorney. He wasn't allowed to do so. The case will still go to trial.
Number three, President Bush takes Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, a lifelong Elvis Presley fan, to Graceland. Their guides, Elvis' only child Lisa Marie and her mother Priscilla Presley. The trip was a going away gift from Mr. Bush to the prime minister, who leaves office in the fall.
Number two on our list is up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Now, a new and shocking trend. Random acts of violence in which teenagers pounce on unsuspecting victims, brutally beating them. But there is another disturbing angle to this brutal phenomenon, these aggressive teenagers are actually recording their bloody rampages on video. Another story caught on camera tonight from Paula Newton in London.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's violent, voyeuristic video and incredibly they call this chilling craze happy slapping. Just watch what happens. One person holds the camera phone and gets this school boy's attention and then there it is, out of nowhere, he's whacked. It's brutality that passes for entertainment. E-mailed to friends, posted on the Internet. Even rated for its gotcha value. Look closely as this man is hit twice. His attackers so bold here, he tells the victim to go home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go home. You are bleeding.
NEWTON: Police in Britain say these are sadistic crimes.
ELLIE O'CONNOR, BRITISH POLICE INVESTIGATOR: These souls are far from happy. They are vicious, unprovoked attacks on person ranging from approximately 12 years, well into their 30s and 40s.
NEWTON: Attacks that can kill. Tristan Christmas died when he was smacked to a cement floor and the camera just kept on rolling.
SIOBHAN CHRISTMAS, TRISTAN'S MOTHER: It makes me ill. It makes me ill.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel like, a dream. It's not real. How could people do that. It's sick. It's absolutely sick.
NEWTON: The attacker is now behind bars. But to cope with their grief, Tristan's family has issued blunt appeals, especially to teenagers.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This isn't a joke. It's not funny. Someone's died, a young, young, young man with his whole life ahead of him.
NEWTON: But there is no denying the cult status of happy slapping. Again and again, thousands of people click and get millions of hits, outrageous video to be downloaded for its shock value.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am going to go happy slapping.
NEWTON (on camera): It used to be that some just craved their 15 minutes of fame. Now it's 15 megs of fame, and it's really easy to get. You shoot just a few seconds of video, and within hours, you're a star all over the Internet.
(voice-over): What some seem to forget is this is assault, a crime. But one that goes largely unreported. And that makes the attackers bold enough to broadcast the slapping just for kicks.
DR. GRAHAM BARNFIELD, UNIVERSITY OF EAST LONDON: If you were a criminal, the point is to make the evidence disappear. If you're a happy slapper, you are manufacturing evidence against yourself. And so it's that use of humiliation as entertainment that makes it so disturbing.
NEWTON: Disturbing and so outrageous, some of the video has captivated millions.
Take this footage. It may have been staged, but even so, it got the whole country talking. Watch as this happy slap victim turns the tables. Just the thought that one brave soul slapped that happy slapper back consoled many. They called him the have-a-go hero. And it speaks to how fed up and fearful many now are about a prank that sounds innocent and is anything but.
Paula Newton, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: And one more thing, a British newspaper says in London, transport police alone have investigated about 200 happy slapping incidents in the past six months.
Next, one the most unusual 911 calls that we have ever heard about. The operator was in California. The caller was on the other side of the world, and the emergency was caught on camera.
At the top of the hour on "LARRY KING LIVE," the woman who was at the center of a sensational child murder mystery. Loved ones remember JonBenet's mother, the late Patsy Ramsey.
First, number two on our CNN.com countdown. Actor Rob Schneider is back at work today after he collapsed yesterday on a film set near Stockton, California. Schneider was working on his new comedy when it happened. He was hospitalized for heat exhaustion.
Next, she has been erased from "The View," so why is Star Jones number one on the countdown this time? Find out right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Now, imagine you're at home alone when a medical emergency leaves you so helpless you can't dial 911. It happened a few months ago to the woman you're about to meet. But she survived because her family was keeping tabs on her, even though they were all the way on the other side of the globe. How did they do it? It's another story caught on camera. Here's Ted Rowlands.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KARIN JORDAL, DIABETIC: When I woke up, my living room was full of all of these paramedics. And I wondered what was going on.
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Karin Jordal says she'd be dead had it not been for this -- a Web camera on top of her home computer.
K. JORDAL: My son put it up for me. ROWLANDS: Both her sons, Tore (ph) and Ole, live thousands of miles away overseas. They use Web cameras to stay close to their mother and to save money on long-distance bills. Luckily, Karin's camera was left on the afternoon she went into insulin shock.
K. JORDAL: When you go into an insulin shock, you can't even take the phone and call anybody. You can't.
ROWLANDS: She was out cold, all alone in her remote California home, in need of immediate medical care.
More than 7,000 miles away in the Philippines, her son Tore noticed his mother lying in a strange position on her couch.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was terrifying. I knew she was sick and I knew we had to get an ambulance, because I've seen her sick like that before, and I'm diabetic too.
ROWLANDS: Unable to call 911 from the Philippines, Tore called his brother Ole in Norway, whose wife eventually got through to the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department.
DISPATCH: Has she been ill?
TAMMY JORDAL: Has she been ill?
OLE JORDAL: I don't know.
T. JORDAL: No, she's diabetic.
DISPATCH: Uh-huh.
T. JORDAL: Her other son lives in the Philippines, and they have a cam on, a live cam, and she's on the floor.
DISPATCH: OK. What is her name?
T. JORDAL: Karin.
ROWLANDS: The call was a first for the operator.
FIRE DISPATCH: Hello.
SHERIFF'S DISPATCH: Hi. We have kind of a weird thing here. The lady that called was calling from Norway, OK? They have a live cam to their mother-in-law's house at this house here.
FIRE DISPATCH: OK.
SHERIFF'S DISPATCH: She's a diabetic, and she's on the floor.
FIRE DISPATCH: OK.
ROWLANDS: Captain Doug Nelson and his crew were sent on the call.
CAPT. DOUG NELSON, SAN BERNARDINO FIRE DEPT.: Most unusual medical aid call I have ever been on.
ROWLANDS: Tore, who was still watching from the Philippines, was sending computer messages to the rescue crew. Captain Nelson heard the messages coming in and then saw the camera.
NELSON: At that point, I sat down, or kneeled down at the computer, and continued to talk with the family in the Philippines, trying to get as much information from them as I could about their mom.
ROWLANDS: The text of the instant messages from the Philippines is still on Karin's computer, the desperate attempts from a son trying to contact his mother, to a heartfelt thank you to paramedics.
Karin spent three days in the hospital. Her blood sugar level was so low, doctors say if help hadn't arrived when it did, she would have most likely suffered serious brain damage.
Ted Rowlands, CNN, Canyon Hills (ph), California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Now you know the world is becoming a very small place.
The family says Karin had already been unconscious for two hours when her son saw her, so he checked on her just in the nick of time.
Now the top story on CNN.com. Larry King's interview with Star Jones Reynolds about her departure from "The View." Reynolds surprised ABC this week when she revealed that she would not be returning in the fall.
And that's all for tonight. Stay with CNN this weekend for live coverage of the crucial launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery. It's a critical test of changes made to avoid another tragedy because of defective foam insulation. NASA says if unexpected pieces come off again this time, the shuttle may be grounded again to prevent another accident like the 2003 Columbia disaster. Discovery is set to launch at 3:49 Eastern Time tomorrow afternoon from the Kennedy Space Center. Live coverage starts at 3:00 p.m. Eastern with Miles O'Brien.
Thanks for joining us tonight. Paula is back Monday. "LARRY KING LIVE" starts right now.
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