Publix Peeper Who Avoided Over 100 Voyeurism-Related Convictions Transferred from Marion Jail to Alachua Jail for Probation Violation
In 2024, Thomas Ali Burns, 47, was arrested in Alachua County and charged with approximately 137 felony charges relating to video voyeurism, but he wasn’t convicted of a single one. Burns was granted withheld adjudications on two charges and sentenced to probation. However, now he once again faces a potential prison sentence after violating his probation.
After getting arrested in Marion County for dangerous speeding and drug possession, Burns was placed in violation of his probation due to violating the condition of not breaking the law. The Marion County case was closed out last week, prompting his subsequent transfer from the Marion County Jail to the Alachua County Jail for upcoming probation violation proceedings.
Burns’ probation officer reported, “While [Burns] has been compliant with his sex offender treatment, he has remained unemployed as his psychiatrist has advised that he is unable to work. [Burns] is making his payments, but it is unclear as to the source of his income. This officer recommends that [Burns]' supervision is revoked and that he is sentenced to a term of incarceration.”
2022 Voyeurism Report:
On July 22, 2022, Deputy Jacob McCarthy made contact with the victim in reference to an incident that occurred the prior day in the checkout line at the Publix in Haile (2755 SW 91st St, Gainesville, FL 32608).
The victim indicated that someone tried to use their phone to photograph or record her in a violating manner.
The victim said she was standing behind her shopping cart while her husband unloaded the cart.
The suspect got into line behind the victim. She said he placed a shopping basket on the floor and touched her leg as he was doing so. When the victim looked down, she saw a phone with the camera pointing up towards her. She confronted him but the suspect was not responsive. She asked to see the phone/camera but the suspect only showed her the lockscreen.
McCarthy obtained surveillance footage which he described as follows:
“A male matching the description provided by [the victim] is seen entering the store at approximately [6:20 p.m.]. It should be noted that the male was wearing a facemask (covering mouth and nose). That same male is then observed exiting the ‘Paper Products’ aisle near Register Two… [i.e.] the checkout line [the victim] was in. The male pulls what appears to be a cellphone out his pocket and places it in a shopping basket that he is carrying. The male then gets in line behind [the victim] and places the basket on the ground. The male then opens a drink cooler. It appears that [the victim] starts to confront the male, as he picks up the basket and walks toward the ‘Laundry Detergent’ aisle. [The victim] follows the male and appears to try to speak with him, before ultimately returning to the checkout line.”
A former manager at the Publix reportedly told the present manager, Robert Cook, that there were “previous suspicious incidents with the male.”
The victim reported that she was able to take a photo of Burns' license plate. The photo she took matched Burns’ vehicle, as he was documented as driving the same vehicle in a prior alleged road rage incident that did not result in formal charges.
McCarthy did not charge Burns, reporting, “Contact has not been made… It is unknown at this time if the male was using an imaging device to obtain… secretly view, broadcast or record under or through the clothing being worn by another person, without that person's knowledge and consent, for the purpose of viewing the body of, or the undergarments worn by that person. It is also unknown at this time if Thomas was that male. At this time I have no further information. [The] investigation is ongoing. ”
On July 27, 2022, McCarthy responded to the Publix again in reference to a follow-up. Cook advised that he was familiar with the prior incident and that he was made aware of two more incidents that occurred on July 24, 2022, which he had footage of. The suspect depicted on the footage was consistent with Burns’ description. McCarthy described the footage as follows:
“The first video that [Cook] showed me occurred at approximately [10:44 a.m.] in the ‘Self-Checkout’ line. A male is observed on what appears to be a cellphone. The male then is seen grabbing a hand basket and placing what appears to be a cellphone into the basket. The male then walks towards the ‘Self-Checkout’ registers. He momentarily stands near the main aisle by the registers, before approaching a ‘Self-Checkout’ register where a woman, wearing a gray dress, was checking out. The male walks to the backside of the female, while simultaneously moving the hand basket under her dress. The male is also appearing to grab another hand basket from a stack of hand baskets at the end of the register that the female is using. The female looks back at the male, before the male walks off towards the main aisle near the rest of the registers.
The second incident occurs at approximately [10:45 a.m.] in the checkout line of Register 3. The same male is observed walking away from the ‘Self-Checkout’ registers walking down the main aisle. The male goes down an aisle across from Register 3, before walking back to Register 3, where a woman in a black dress is observed in line. The male appears to use the same hand basket from the previous incident and walks up behind the female and lowers the hand basket under her dress, while the male stands at the ‘End Cap Display’ on Register 3. The male appears to grab an item from the display before walking off.”
McCarthy reported that Cook said the same suspect returned again the following day (July 25, 2022). Cook advised that the suspect is a "frequent customer at the store and often buys lottery tickets.”
Cook advised that “store personnel know the suspect as” “Thomas Ali Burns,” further affirming his identification.
Cook reportedly advised that when he saw Burns on the 25th, he approached him and confirmed his name and residence before advising him that a police report was submitted regarding his behavior. Cook told Burns to not return to the store.
McCarthy reported that the two females observed in the new videos were not identified and that he still hadn’t made contact with Burns.
McCarthy still did not charge Burns, once again reporting, “It is still unknown at this time if the male was using an imaging device to obtain… secretly view, broadcast or record under or through the clothing being worn by another person, without that person's knowledge and consent, for the purpose of viewing the body of, or the undergarments worn by that person. It is also unknown at this time if Thomas [Burns] was that male. The investigation is ongoing”
On July 28, 2022, McCarthy and another deputy met with the victim to have her complete a photo lineup to see if she could identify Burns.
The victim identified Burns but reportedly did show some hesitation, saying, “It could be the person, 10% sure.” It should be emphasized that Burns was reportedly wearing a face mask.
Later that day, McCarthy asked Cook about getting transaction receipts of the other two victims. Cook later let him know that would be possible and that he’d notify him when the information was available.
McCarthy’s report ends here and no more information is included. The report was obtained as part of a public records request for all reports the Alachua County Sheriff's Office (ACSO) possesses that involve Burns. The request indicates that Burns wasn’t arrested and charged until 2024 after perpetrating further voyeurism incidents. The request also shows he was Baker Acted a few months prior to his arrest.
Baker Act Report:
On May 20, 2024, Deputy Alfred Robertson responded to a Gainesville address in reference to threatening messages the complainant received from Burns. The incident was domestic and the two resided together.
The complainant advised that the week prior, Burns became angry and started yelling at her while she was in the shower. He began calling her derogatory terms, kicking things, and pushing furniture against the wall. The complainant advised that she left with their kids due to Burns’ “past behavior, as he has become violent when he gets angry.”
Robertson reported, “Since she has been [with] her parents, Thomas has been alternating from being nice to being angry and threatening to do harm to himself, to her, their kids and her parents. He threatened multiple times to murder her and her parents. She said that he also threatened to kill himself, after he killed her and her parents. The most recent threat came on May 20, 2024, at approximately [2:17 p.m.]. The contact was via audio through Facebook messenger. It was a 12 minute call… On the call, Thomas told [the complainant] that today was it. He said that if she did not bring their kids back home today then he would kill her and her parents. He also said that he would kill himself last. Furthermore, he told [the complainant] that if her mother picked up their kids from school then he would go to her [place of] work… wait for her… [and] stab her in front of everyone… She noted that Thomas repeated this threat multiple times.”
The complainant disclosed that Burns had further victimized her in the past with physical violence, throwing things at her and kicking her. She noted that his anger is “just getting worse” and said she would seek a domestic violence injunction.
Despite the reports of domestic violence and sending an electronic threat to kill, this incident did not result in charges. ACSO did not formally arrest Burns. Instead, they placed him under a Baker Act and took him to a mental health hospital.
2024 Voyeurism Report:
On June 4, 2024, Deputy Marco Valbuena responded to Haile Publix in reference to a suspicious person complaint.
Valbuena made contact with store manager John Cusack, who advised that he “received a complaint from a customer about an unidentified man taking pictures under female customer's skirts. The customer witnessed the incident but was not a victim herself.”
Cusack said he didn't get the customer’s name but would try to follow up if he makes contact with her again.
Valbuena reported, “John showed me video footage of 2 different instances where the suspect can be seen placing a cellphone inside of a shopping basket, approaching the female customers from behind and placing the basket directly underneath their skirts and removing it after 2-3 seconds. The first incident was on [May 26, 2024] and took place in the produce section of the store. The second incident on [May 28, 2024] took place in the deli area. John copied the footage to a USB thumb-drive and provided it to me. The flash drive was turned over to [Deputy Sheriff] A. Minaya to be turned into ACSO evidence. While I waited for the thumb-drive, John talked to one of his employees [who] had a possible name of ‘Thomas’ and stated he goes by ‘Ali.’ John later stated the male's last name to possibly be ‘Burns.’ A search of ACSO MCT [showed] a Thomas Ali Burns… listed in a prior incident (ASO22OFF6649) where the same events took place. Thomas was a suspect in this incident and was said to have been taking pictures or recording under females’ dresses utilizing a cell phone in a shopping basket.”
Valbuena then reported, “At this time no suspect information exists. I will follow up with this incident in attempts to identify a victim.”
On June 8, 2024, Valbuena followed up at the grocery store and received information about a possible victim from the assistant manager, Nick.
Nick advised that he spoke with the victim on May 28, 2024. Nick’s conversation with the victim, in correlation with surveillance footage, indicated the suspect, who matched Burns’ description, was following the victim from the bakery aisle to the soda aisle. However, there were no cameras in the soda aisle, where this incident reportedly occurred.
Valbuena noted that the victim was wearing a dress and that the suspect “was seen walking behind [her] with what looks like a cell phone in one hand and a green handheld basket in the other. The two then exit the [aisle] and no further contact was observed.”
Valbuena reported that “Nick stated law enforcement was not contacted to trespass Thomas on previous incidents, he was instead told by staff to not return to the store within a year. Nick also stated Thomas is known at other Publix locations in the area for approaching female customers and following the same MO.”
Search Warrant Report:
On July 17, 2024, multiple deputies responded to Burns’ residence to serve a search warrant.
Deputy Travis Parsons reported, “I assisted with searching the residence pursuant to the search warrant. In one of the residence's bedrooms, I located an Apple iPhone in a black case. The cellular phone was located in a brown cardboard box, along with two empty iPhone boxes, on the top shelf of the bedroom closet. ACSO Forensics photographed the phone and collected it pursuant to the search warrant.”
Deputy Erika Lofgren listed physical evidence that was collected.
Arrest & Probable Cause Report:
Burns was finally arrested on August 14, 2024, for his offenses against the initial victim. He was charged with one count of video voyeurism and one count of using a two-way communication device to commit a felony. These were the charges that Burns would later be sentenced for, and the only ones that weren’t outright dropped.
Following Burns’ arrest, Deputy Michael Adkins charged him with 67 more counts of video voyeurism and 67 more counts of using a two-way communication device to commit a felony. These were charged within the same case.
Adkins reported that the 2024 case report was "directly related” to the 2022 case report.
Adkins then reported on the 2022 incident with a substantially similar summary to the previously described report. Adkins regarded the investigation as “stalled until 2024” following the photo lineup.
Adkins continued his report to summarize the 2024 incident and noted, “in every incident on video except one, the defendant appears to do the same exact actions. He observes a female in a dress, then he manipulates his phone and places it in the bottom of a hand-held shopping basket. The defendant then approaches the female from behind and quickly swings the basket underneath the back of the dress on the side where the phone was placed. He then immediately begins looking at items on a nearby shelf. The only incident where the defendant did not follow this same routine was when he hit the victim's leg and she confronted him. During that incident the defendant immediately left the area.”
As part of the investigation, ACSO conducted a digital extraction into Burns’ devices. Adkins reported that his computer had “videos [that] appeared to be privately made inside the house of [Burns] wearing different dresses and dancing or ‘twerking’ in front of the camera.”
The extraction revealed approximately 67 unique videos that unlawfully filmed up women’s clothing. Burns' face was visible in multiple videos. The extraction indicated that Burns committed the offenses at more stores than Publix, including Walmart, Barnes & Noble, Aldi, and Target.
Regarding Burns’ detainment, Adkins reported that he agreed to speak to him after a Miranda warning.
Adkins reported that Burns “positively identified himself in the [surveillance] photos” but “denied that he recorded anyone and [said he] did not record up anyone’s dress or skirt.” Burns reportedly “continued to explain that the surveillance video was at an odd angle and he wasn’t as close to the people as it looked on video.”
When Adkins showed Burns screenshots from the videos where he looks down into the basket, Burns then reportedly “began to have an emotional reaction. He eventually stated that he did not know why he did this and that he felt that it was an addiction and an issue that he had.”
Burns reportedly said that he started two years prior after he was shown a video of someone else doing a similar action. Soon after, Burns reportedly admitted to filming up victims’ dresses.
Burns reportedly "stated that none of the women that he filmed deserved what he did to them and he described his actions as ‘sickening.’”
Adkins further reported that he located 158 “videos that showed an ‘intimate area’ of victims. In these videos the defendant appeared to be following the victims around stores filming them. While he filmed them, he would focus or zoom in on the victims' vagina, buttocks, or breasts… In one of these videos, the defendant is recording a female's vaginal area in a grocery store up close. As he passed in front of her, an aisle display had a reflective surface that showed the defendant was carrying his cell phone in one hand with the lottery tickets on the front side of the phone blocking the screen.” Adkins reported that he was trying to get in touch with these victims and further noted that Burns had 240 similar videos filmed at Volcano Bay, which is in Orlando, outside of ACSO’s jurisdiction.
Minor Victim:
Burns reportedly didn’t just offend against adults in stores, but also against a child who was in their room
Adkins reported that the camera was set up in the victim’s room and filmed her changing. The report indicates the victim was under 16.
Regarding this incident, Burns reportedly “claimed that he had concerns that the victim was sending things to older men and he wanted to keep an eye on her. [He] said that the only reason that he had this concern was because he saw something on social media about a different teenage girl.”
Adkins reported, “[Burns] claimed that it was recorded on his GoPro and that the footage would have been constantly recording while it was in there. I mentioned to [Burns] how the video was cut down to just a few seconds that showed the victim entering the room and undressing. The video did not show someone walking away after placing the camera there or walking up to remove the camera, which suggested that it had been accessed and edited down to a specific time in which the victim was changing her clothes.”
Dropped Charges and Plea Deal:
On October 16, 2024, SAO8 dropped the case involving the child victim. Had Burns gone to trial and been convicted, he would’ve been facing up to 15 years in prison for this charge alone.
Combining his other charges, Burns faced a statutory maximum of nearly 700 years in prison. However, on October 29, 2024, Assistant State Attorney Darla Whistler signed off on a plea deal where SAO8 dropped 134 of Burns’ charges.
Burns was sentenced to three years of probation for the two charges involving the initial victim. As part of the plea deal, Burns wasn’t even convicted; instead he was granted a withheld adjudication. The agreement was accepted by Judge David Kreider.
Marion County Case:
On April 14, 2026, Trooper Rodriguez (first name not stated) was conducting traffic enforcement on Interstate 75. Around 3 a.m., he reportedly observed a driver in a dark SUV, later identified as Burns, driving over 100 miles per hour (MPH) (30 over the speed-limit).
Rodriguez reported, “I started to travel northbound on Interstate 75 while driving my fully marked FHP unit clearly displaying agency insignia… As I was traveling northbound directly behind the dark SUV, I observed it switching from the left lane to the center lane directly in front of a semi without signaling while traveling over 100 [MPH].”
Burns reportedly continued to pass vehicles at a high rate of speed, with Rodriguez reporting that the speedometer showed 130 MPH as he continued following.
Rodriguez turned on his emergency lights and Burns pulled over.
Rodriguez reported, “I gave commands to the driver through the speaker box of my patrol car. I advised the driver to lower all the windows of the vehicle, open the driver door from the outside, face away from me and to sit on his knees while facing away from me. The driver complied and I took him into custody by placing handcuffs on him."
Rodriguez reported that there was a “large amount of currency” inside Burns’ vehicle, approximately $7,445.
Burns reportedly told troopers there were clonazepam pills inside his vehicle, which he did not have a prescription for.
Burns was charged with two misdemeanors; reckless driving and operating a vehicle at a speed exceeding a speed limit by over 50 MPH, along with a felony drug possession charge for possessing the clonazepam.
On June 8, 2026, Burns was convicted of operating a motor vehicle at over 100 MPH while threatening a person or property and received a time-served sentence. Prosecutors dropped the other charges. He was transferred to the Alachua County Jail two days later.
Burns has a probation violation arraignment scheduled for July 14.
