Tanning salon owner accused of filming customers with hidden cameras – New Jersey Herald

A Stanhope man and owner of a Nutley tanning salon was arrested Wednesday after police say he was caught by a customer using secret cameras to spy on patrons as they were using tanning beds.

Martino Poli, 38, who owns Sun of a Beach tanning salon on Franklin Avenue in Nutley, was arrested following a sweep of the premises by authorities, who uncovered evidence including hidden recording devices. Police also found cocaine and marijuana inside the salon, according to a release from the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office.

“The investigation was started when a female customer of the salon reported that she noticed what she believed to be a camera lens recording her surreptitiously while she was in a tanning bed,” the prosecutor’s office said.

Poli was charged with invasion of privacy, endangering the welfare of a child and possession of a controlled dangerous substance. He is being held in the Essex County jail pending a detention hearing on June 18, the office stated.

The salon’s website indicates it offers two stand-up and five lie-down tanning beds.

According to court records, Poli has two prior convictions in Sussex County.

On July 25, 2014, Poli was sentenced to two years probation and 60 days in the Sussex County jail after he pleaded guilty to third-degree manufacturing/possessing/distributing heroin and/or cocaine.

On Sept. 12, 2011, Poli was sentenced to two years probation and 15 days in the county jail after pleading guilty to third-degree impersonation/theft of identity.

In 2012, Patricia Krentcil, the so-called “tan mom” who garnered national attention when she took her 5-year-old daughter into a tanning booth, told the New York Post she was a regular at Sun of a Beach. Although she now lives in Florida, the Nutley native told the newspaper she invested $15,000 in the salon and even took out a $25,000 loan to become a co-owner of the place. It was not immediately clear what came of the offer, but media reports indicate Krentcil is “on life support” as she battles pneumonia in a Florida hospital.

 

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