Here's a tip: If you're going act like a pervert around underaged girls in a candy store, try not to creep around a cop's 15-year-old niece.
According to a police report obtained by New Times, an off-duty Palm Beach Gardens cop was in Sugar Happens! at the Gardens Mall on Tuesday when she happened to notice 31-year-old Melvin Barber Bridgers III acting like a weirdo with his cell phone out near her 15-year-old niece.
While the cop was at the cashier paying for some sugary treats, she said two girls -- between the ages of 10 and 12 -- entered the store, and Bridgers went on the prowl, police say.
The cop watched one of the young girls picking out candy from a rack while Bridgers crouched down next to her, put his cell phone under her dress, and took a picture, according to the report.
That's when the cop's sister, who was also in the store, sent out a pervert alert by yelling "He's taking pictures" and went to confront Bridgers, police say.
Bridgers bolted across the mall, and before being stopped by on-duty cops, police say it was "obviously clear" he was trying to delete the pictures of the little girls from his phone.
Bridgers tried to tell Palm Beach Gardens cops to keep the "crazy bitch," also known as a police officer, away from him, according to the report.
His excuse for going into the candy store was to buy bubble gum and gummy bears, although the cops say mall surveillance video shows Bridgers watching the little girls go into the store before he turned around and followed them in, the report says.
Bridgers was arrested and charged with video voyeurism as well as breaching the peace.
According to the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, Bridgers was released from jail yesterday on his own recognizance.
Bridgers' previous criminal history includes serving just under four years in prison in North Carolina for robbery with a dangerous weapon, according to the North Carolina Department of Corrections.
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