Potter Arrested at Los Altos Arts & Wine Festival Sunday

A Sonoma County potter exhibiting at the Los Altos Arts & Wine Festival was abruptly arrested and his booth shut down Sunday afternoon for allegedly shooting pictures up the skirt of a festival patron, according to police.

Los Altos Police Capt. Andy Galea said that Randy Stuart Snyder, 50, of Rohnert Park was observed taking photos of a woman around 2:30 p.m. Galea said a witness told police "that Snyder placed the camera at ground level and took a photo, with the camera pointed upward in the direction of a woman’s skirt." The woman was with her boyfriend at another booth.

Officers placed Snyder under arrest for disorderly conduct and destruction of evidence. The camera was seized as evidence, and Snyder was taken to the Santa Clara County Jail, where he was booked.

"It was a very unfortunate situation, and it was the first incident we've ever had," said Nancy Dunaway, executive director of the Los Altos Village Association, which organizes the festival. There were about 380 artists who exhibited at the festival, she added.

Dunaway commended the Los Altos Police, saying they handled the matter so quietly that she said she might not have known an arrest had occurred if they hadn't have told her. After Snyder was arrested, she worked with the artists' presenter, Pacific Fine Arts, to secure his booth and wares.