Cottage Grove man charged in alleged peeping Tom case

A Woodbury woman noticed a white truck following her home, but it wasn’t until she received a text message from a neighbor that she became truly alarmed.

The woman, responding to a text reading “There is a dude looking in your windows,” ran out of her apartment on Dec. 22 and confronted a man outside her residence who authorities said begged her not to call police.

Officers later found the man, identified in a criminal complaint as Jeffrey Scott Hurst, at his Cottage Grove home, where he allegedly admitted to spying on the Woodbury woman.

Hurst was charged Dec. 24 with one count of interfering with privacy, a felony. The charge reflects a 2002 prior conviction for the same offense.

According to the complaint, the woman first noticed Hurst while she was stopped at Valley Creek Road and Weir Drive. When the light turned green, a white pickup truck pulled in behind her and followed her to her Park Wood Drive apartment complex.

The complaint states that five minutes after the woman got home – at about 9:40 p.m. – she received the text message from her neighbor. The alleged victim saw the same white truck parked outside her first-floor apartment as she went out to confront the man.

When the woman asked Hurst what he was doing, he replied “nothing” and began walking away, before being told she was calling the police.

“No, please, don’t. I promise I won’t bother you anymore,” the 41-year-old allegedly responded.

A caller turned over the Hurst vehicle’s license plate information, revealing the truck was registered to his wife.

Police went to Hurst’s Cottage Grove home, where he first denied being on the west side of Woodbury. He eventually admitted to the woman’s allegations, the complaint states.

Hurst told officers that he was looking in windows in hopes of seeing a naked woman.

He was released from Washington County jail on Dec. 31. Hurst makes his next court appearance on Jan. 30.

Tags: crime and courts, updates, crime