A Kirkland man charged in a voyeurism case involving hidden cameras inside a Starbucks restroom has pleaded not guilty and posted bond, according to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors charged Ben Tsai on Jan. 9 with Voyeurism in the First Degree, a felony under Washington law, following an investigation by the Kirkland Police Department.
Tsai entered a not-guilty plea during his arraignment on Wednesday, Jan. 14, in King County Superior Court.
Court records show Tsai was ordered held on $50,000 bail, which he later posted.
Jail records indicate he has since been released.
According to charging documents, prosecutors allege Tsai placed a hidden camera inside a unisex bathroom at a Starbucks in the Juanita area of Kirkland on or about Oct. 3, 2025.
The device was allegedly positioned under a sink and aimed toward the toilet.
Police say the camera was discovered by a store manager, who turned it over to officers.
A forensic review of the camera’s SD card allegedly showed video recordings of multiple people using the restroom, including customers and an employee cleaning the bathroom.
Investigators later matched the time stamps from the hidden camera to Starbucks security footage, which allegedly shows a man entering the restroom, adjusting something under the sink, and later sitting in the café while looking at his phone and toward the restroom area.
Court documents state police used a credit card transaction made at the Starbucks shortly after the camera was placed to help identify a suspect.
Police later executed a search warrant at Tsai’s Bothell home on Jan. 7.
According to investigators, Tsai admitted to placing the camera in the Starbucks bathroom and to previously placing a camera inside a Safeway restroom in 2017.
Detectives say they seized multiple “spy cameras,” digital storage devices and electronic equipment from the home.
Prosecutors wrote that Tsai told investigators he had been secretly recording people for several years and stored the footage on hard drives.
Prosecutors asked the court to maintain the $50,000 bail and to impose additional conditions, including restrictions on camera possession and contact with the Starbucks location where the device was found.
Tsai’s trial is scheduled to begin March 31, according to court records.