Pomona (CA) - A Best Buy Geek Squad technician is under arrest after going to a customer’s house and apparently examining much more than a computer.  Sarah Vasquez, a Walnut, Calif., resident, says the technician took secret video of her showering while he was supposed to be fixing Vasquez’s computer.  In addition to criminal charges, Vasquez and her mother Natalie Fornaciari are now suing both the technician and Best Buy for invasion of privacy.

Fornaciari went to the local Best Buy store in the City of Industry to have a technician repair a computer at her house.  The lawsuit alleges that on March 4th the store sent Geek Squad technician Hao Kuo Chi to her home and that he hid his cell phone in the bathroom.

Vasquez talked to reporters on April 11th, 2007 in a press conference with her attorney, Gloria Allred.  Vasquez says she didn’t notice the phone hidden behind the sink until she was done showering.  She also alleges that the red recording light was on when she stepped out of the shower.

Fornaciari kept the technician occupied while Vasquez and her little sister extracted the memory card from the phone and took it to the local phone store.  Vasquez watched the video after the phone store technician popped the chip into another phone.  “I was embarrassed…  I didn’t even want to look at it anymore,” Vasquez told reporters.

The pair raced back to the house, confronted Hao and called police.  Vasquez says the technician tried to get the memory chip back by offering a discount on the computer repair work.  Police arrested Hao a short time later.

There are several interesting questions that arise from this case, namely why would anyone want to take a shower with a complete stranger in the house?  Perhaps Vasquez felt safe with her mother and little sister in the house and the technician was recommended by Best Buy after all.  Also was Vasquez the intended target?  With two women and a little girl in the house, the chance of one of them going to the bathroom during the repair call was probably very high.  Did Hao intend to video Vasquez or did he just get “lucky”?

The lawsuit was filed in Pomona Superior Court and alleges that Best Buy and the technician committed fraud, invasion of privacy and infliction of emotional distress.  It also claims that Best Buy misrepresented services and should have been more careful in hiring Hao.

You can watch the press conference with Vasquez, Fornaciari and the little sister here .

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