North Fulton County

Man accused of watching woman in hotel room through hole in wall

NORTH FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — A Roswell mother said she felt violated after police said a man spied on her through a hole in the wall between their hotel rooms, according to police.

Police charged Christian Garcia Castillo, 30, with peeping Tom after the discovery earlier this week at the InTown Suites on Hembree Road.

"I shouldn't have to fear for my life or my son's life because of someone else's actions," Monica Thomas told Channel 2's Mike Petchenik.

Thomas said she first noticed the hole in the wall of her room’s kitchenette on Sunday.

“I see that it’s a hole, a nice size hole. I’m trying to figure out when did it come,” she said. “I ducked down and looked through the hole and could clearly see the man on the other side.”

Thomas said she reported the hole to hotel management, but didn’t suspect anything suspicious, and they put duct tape over it.

The next night, Thomas said she noticed the tape was removed from the hole.

“He stuck his hand through the wall,” she said. “I was yelling at him, telling him I was gonna call 911 on him.”

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When police arrived, she said they told her they suspected Garcia Castillo was likely watching her in the bathroom because of where the hole was situated.

“I honestly believe he was watching me because I don’t close that door,” she said. “He’s probably like a peeping Tom. That’s not the norm for people to do that.”

Police told Petchenik Garcia Castillo had an explanation for them.

“He said that he was concerned because someone was knocking on his door and he was afraid and he was somehow going to communicate with the person next door,” Officer Lisa Holland said.

Holland said it was unclear whether Garcia Castillo cut the hole, but merely watching her through it is a crime.

“It’s spying on somebody and invading their privacy,” she said.

Thomas said she places some blame on hotel management for failing to patch the hole immediately after she reported it.

“That man could have been in this room over me,” she said. “That thing could have escalated to a thing where it could have been a different outcome.”

A manager who answered the phone at InTown Suites Roswell Friday told Petchenik they had no comment on the incident.