Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
REARDAN — A local man was arraigned Wednesday, Aug. 20, after a neighbor reported a “peeping Tom.”
Andrew Christopher Nilles, of Reardan, was charged with first-degree voyeurism in Lincoln County Superior Court.
His arrest and arraignment stem from an Aug. 8 report by resident Lance A. Bruckelmeyer, who told law enforcement officers that a “peeping Tom” had been seen looking in a window above a shower, records show.
According to court records, a 17-year-old girl was getting a shower and noticed a man watching through a window above the shower.
She told a visiting 17-year-old friend of the incident, who checked and also spotted the man looking in the shower window, records show.
The window is high enough off the ground that the only way to see in is to lay on the roof and hang over the side, records show.
On Aug. 9, Nilles texted law enforcement and said he was having issues with his neighbors.
Investigators determined the voyeurism incident and Nilles’ complaint were related and interviewed him, records show.
During the investigation, Nilles told deputies the neighbors had contacted his parents to tell them he was looking in the window at the girls, records show. Nilles attempted to deflect suspicion on “tweakers.”
Nilles denied being on the roof at the time the “peeping Tom” was reported, but said he’d been on the roof two years before to help install a vent during shop construction.
Nilles said he was in Medical Lake at the time of the incident, but that his story could not be corroborated, records show.
A trial date was set in the case for 9:30 a.m., Nov. 6, records show.
Roger Harnack is the owner/publisher of Free Press Publishing. Having grown up Benton City, Roger is an award-winning journalist, photographer, editor and publisher. He's one of only two editorial/commentary writers from Washington state to ever receive the international Golden Quill. Roger is dedicated to the preservation of local media, and the voice it retains for Eastern Washington.
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