Jason John Hanrahan
Santa Barbara – If allegations reflected in the March 14th Santa Barbara Police Department arrest records prove to be true, 48-year-old Jason John Hanrahan’s actions precedent to his early evening arrest on that day may well qualify him for his own page in the growing annals of What the Hell Were You Thinking?
It all began just five days earlier at McConnell’s Ice Cream emporium, located in the middle of Santa Barbara’s always busy State Street downtown business district.
It was at approximately 6:00 p.m. on March 9th when an employee of the city’s most popular confectionary destination observed Hanrahan enter the store and make a beeline for the unisex bathroom.
Confiscated outlet camera
Anticipating a transaction for a double scoop of pick-your-flavor when Hanrahan completed his ablutions and exited the restroom, the employee couldn’t help but feel slightly suspicious when, instead, he simply departed the premises without so much as getting a free sample of Rocky Road.
Acting on her suspicions, the female employee checked the restroom following his departure and observed an electrical outlet that she didn’t remember having seen previously.
According to Santa Barbara Police Department Public Information Officer Sgt. Riley Harwood, she simply assumed that perhaps “it had been installed during a recent renovation.”
But when Hanrahan returned to the store just an hour later, spent a brief time in the restroom and then abruptly exited—again without so much as ordering a scoop of Neopolitan—the employee checked the restroom again and specifically noted that the electrical outlet was no longer there.
Upon reporting this strange activity to the store manager, it was decided that she would notify the police should Hanrahan ever return to the premises.
And so it was on March 14th that Hanrahan did indeed return and follow the identical pattern of behavior once again.
And again, the employee examined the restroom and saw the mysterious electrical plug back in its place. At that juncture, a 911 call was placed to SBPD Dispatch, and uniformed officers responded shortly thereafter to the scene.
While officers were in the store conducting a preliminary investigation, Hanrahan walked through the front door and abruptly “turned and exited upon seeing officers present,” whereupon he was detained on the sidewalk in front of the store and found to be in possession of evidence linking him directly to the electrical outlet now recovered from the establishment’s restroom.
An examination of the electrical outlet revealed a hidden camera with an adhesive backing, which he was allegedly using to record the personal activity of store patrons while in the restroom.
Hanrahan was summarily arrested and transported to Santa Barbara County Jail, where he was booked on a misdemeanor charge for installing a surveillance device inside a public restroom, with his bail set at $2,500.
A search warrant for his residence was soon obtained which yielded the seizure of computer hardware and assorted memory devices.
According to Harwood, the SBPD Crimes Against Persons unit “will be analyzing this evidence in coming weeks to determine if additional crimes have been committed. If so, additional charges may follow.”
Photo: Courtesy Santa Barbara County Jail Booking
