Lawyer Busted for Filming Girls in Target: Police

He thinks that I was in the in the store. recording his daughter with my phone. That's not true. It's absolutely not true. Okay. I was in there buying gifts for a. holiday party. What would make them. think that you you were recording? >> That I had my phone out. >> An Arizona county attorney has suddenly. found himself on the wrong side of the. law, accused of filming minor girls in a. Target and then, well, doing something. [music] in his car afterwards. We have. the body cam, police report, we have the.

witness statements, and we got our hands. on the prior history [music] of Paul. Correa as we break down this new bizarre. case out west. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law & Crime. >> [music]. >> I'm Jesse Weber. We got our hands on this body cam. footage of the moment that police. confronted an now former county deputy. attorney out in Arizona on allegations. that he was filming a girl in a Target. store. and then, I don't know the best way to say this, allegedly doing something in his car.

So, we're talking about former Cochise. County Chief Civil Deputy Paul Correa. Now, if you're saying to yourself, "Well, what does this guy do?" This is a. guy who, according to what appears to be. his LinkedIn, is the general counsel for. government operations, deals with. regulatory compliance, contract review, AI issues, basically advised the county. on legal matters and was its lead. litigation attorney. He's a big deal. Now, the video that we're talking about. here is from December 17th, 2025. It's. only a few weeks ago. It's outside of a.

Sierra Vista Target and this is when. police show up after there is a. disorderly conduct report. You see, the. allegation was that 59-year-old Correa. was following a young girl in the store. and recording her and then allegedly. watching that video in the parking lot. with, quote, this is from the father in. this case, the father of this young. girl, that he observed Correa, quote, "with his pants disheveled." I don't. think I have to put two and two together. about what the allegation here is, but. unfortunately, I am going to get a. little bit more specific. So, according.

to 13 News, KOLD, an employee of the. store called 911. Why? Because there was. an allegation that there was a car. blocking another car in the parking lot. Turns out the father of this young girl. allegedly blocked Correa's car, seemingly so he couldn't leave. I want. to go to the body cam, okay, cuz this is. going to be a key piece of evidence. Let's go to the body cam piece by piece. here of the interaction and I got to. say, the way it starts off, kind of. tense. Hi. Hi, how are you doing? All. right, how are you? Take your hands out.

of your pocket. Something going on in. your waistband? Come out in front of. your car. Sure. What's your name? My name is Paul Correa. Okay, have a. seat right here. All right, it's preferred that I sit. Okay, hold on. Yeah, lean up against. your car. Why? Cuz I'm telling you to. Okay. If you'd rather, you can go have a. seat in the back of my car. So, I'm trying to get So, I don't know. what's going on. So, lean up against. your car with your butt with your butt. and just try to sit relax for a minute. while I figure out what's going on. All. right, watch him cuz I'm the only guy. here. I don't know what the hell is. going on. >> sorry. So, what what's the issue today?

She thinks Okay, for the purpose of now, probably we should separate but you were. recording her. Well, you can give your. statement. She said she saw something. Okay. >> He's confused. He's angry. Um what's he confused or angry or what. does he think he saw? He thinks that I. was. >> [snorts]. >> in the in the store. recording his daughter with my phone. That's not true. It's absolutely not true. Okay. Okay. So, now the question is, what is. going on in this parking lot? How did.

this transpire to now in the parking. lot? People are blocking each other. >> I was sitting here calling my son to say. the pizza place is closing there, so. what do you want to eat? Okay. And then. all of a sudden he's banging on the door. telling me, you know, I don't know what. he's just banging on the door real hard. Okay, what's he saying? I don't. think he was saying anything. comprehensive. So, it's like uh. I think he was telling me to come out of. the car. I'm like, "Who are you?".

I mean, what did he say he was? Was. there some kind of altercation in the. store? No, absolutely not. So, you have. a father of this minor girl arguably. trapping Correa in the parking lot and. this is the part where the officer asks. him, "What were you doing at the. Target?" And this is, by the way, also. where the officer learns who Correa is. Do you have an ID on you? Yeah.

You still. What's that? I live in Bisbee, Arizona. In Bisbee? Is this your car? Yeah. [snorts] Okay. What's a good address for you in Bisbee? So, you're here shopping? Yeah. Did you. buy anything? Yes. What did you buy? A bunch of chocolate. balls and. stuff that's for. an office party tonight. Okay. Where do you work?

I work at the Cochise County Attorney's. Office. Oh, okay. What's a good telephone number for you? Are you an attorney? Are you a paralegal. or Yeah, I'm the Chief Civil Deputy. County Attorney. Okay. This guy's got me completely wrong. I. understand. I'd be upset, too. And then as the. officer tries to get a better sense of. what happened here, Correa says, and. this is pretty remarkable, if he had a. gun, he would have shot the father. So, there's no altercation, there's no. contact between you guys in the in the. store.

Um but. at what point did he tell you or did you. hear an allegation that he thought you. were filming his daughter? >> [snorts]. >> He came banging on my door. Just now? I I've been sitting here for a minute. like. uh. trying to figure out what to do about. dinner Okay. with my kids. Um. he says. "I'm in your. in my car." I'm like, "I don't know where he gets that." Okay. Right. All right, um.

as far as you know, um. did you see him in the store with his. daughter or I don't know who he is. I. was sitting here. The first that The first that you hear. of anything is right here at the car. he's banging on your window. Yes. Okay. All right, I think I think I'll tell my. partner, Officer Thompson, to quickly. let me go talk to him and get his side. of the story. Obviously, until we're. done here, you're not free to go. Right, so that's what I'm trying to figure out. There's no physical altercation between. you and him or anything in the parking. lot here. It's just he's banging on. >> tried to close my door. He He prevented.

me from closing my door telling me I was. breaking the law. Okay, well, I'll go talk to He pulled my. door open. He's breaking the law. If I. had a firearm. and my firearm [snorts] was here right. now, I would have shot the guy. And then. Correa appears to invoke the castle. doctrine form of self-defense under the. law, by the way, which is the idea when. you're in your home and potentially even. in your car, so your property, you don't. have to run away, but you can use. physical force, maybe even deadly force, to protect yourself or someone else from. immediate physical harm. The trick of. that is it has to be reasonable under.

the circumstances. And someone opening. your car door, that could be a tough one. if there's not something else there, but, you know, if a guy blocks you, opens the door, maybe there's an. argument that you were in reasonable. fear for your life. And maybe there's. something there, but that's kind of a. side issue. Didn't thankfully didn't. even get to that. Here's what happens. though in this case. After the. allegation that he recorded this minor. girl in the Target, reportedly by the. way, 12 years old, and then was watching. the video with his pants disheveled,

reportedly out in the parking lot, he. was criminally charged and he was fired. He was charged with evidence tampering, harassment by surveillance, and public. sexual indecency. Why? This is where I. have to read you some new details from. the responding officer's police incident. report because there's one thing from. the body cam, what it shows you, this is. what the officer allegedly observed, quote, "As I contacted Correa, he exited. the vehicle and immediately started to. manipulate the waistband of his pants. His left hand was not visible behind his.

person as he appeared to pull up on the. back of his pants and his right hand was. in his pocket. I directed him to stop. digging around in his waistband and. pocket and to come to the front of his. car. Correa then pulled his shirt down. over his pants. I observed the front. zipper of his pants was partially. unzipped and the zipper pull was. protruding from the fabric flap area as. if his pants had been undone." So, if. you need me to spell it out here, from. here, Correa, as he kind of saw in the.

body cam, claimed that the father, identified as Jason in the paperwork, had accused him of essentially. pleasuring himself to the video. So, then the officer speaks to Jason, right? What's his perception on all this? Here's his narrative, quote, "I. contacted Jason who provided the. following account. His wife, Stacy, and. their daughter were shopping at Target. Jason was not present with them at. Target and was at their residence. While. at the store, redacted, so this is the. minor girl, redacted, became upset and. called Jason stating that a man had been. following her around the store and.

recording her with his phone. Jason. stated that redacted told him she. attempted to move away from the man, but. he continued to follow her. At one. point, redacted reportedly saw the man's. phone screen, which she believed was. recording her." Jason stated that after. being notified of what occurred, he. drove to the Target parking lot. When he. got to Target, he located the man, later. identified as Paul Correa, sitting in a. vehicle. Jason said he blocked Correa's. vehicle with his own to prevent him from. leaving and approached Correa's car.

Jason stated that he banged on the. window and observed Correa looking at. his phone. Jason described that he. believed Correa was essentially. pleasuring himself. Jason visually. demonstrated how Correa was sitting, showing that he was holding a phone in. one hand and had the other hand under. his clothing over his. as if he was touching his own. Jason reported that Correa appeared. startled, put his phone down, and. adjusted his pants. Jason stated that he.

could see Correa was holding a phone and. observed there was a video of Jason's. daughter playing on Correa's phone. So, at first glance, you might be saying, "Okay, he shows up to the Target. It's, you know, second-hand knowledge. He's. just hearing from what his daughter. said. He didn't see what the what was. happening in the Target." This is now a. first-hand account of what was allegedly. happening in the parking lot. Allegation, but still. So, after. speaking with the wife here, the mother. of this young girl, the officer speaks. to her as well, who by the way provided.

kind of a similar account to the. daughter. The officer then speaks to. Correa again to get his side. Now, he's. asked, "Okay, did you film anyone in the. store?" And Correa allegedly responded. to the officer, quote, "Of course not.". But then he was asked if he was filming. a 12-year-old, to which Correa allegedly. responded, according to the officer, "I. No, I have no awareness of" and then. didn't finish the sentence. Now, again, Correa denied that he was doing anything. in his car. He called the accusations.

from Jason BS. The thing about it is, the officer reportedly asked Correa to. look at his phone. And Correa, according. to the officer, was not only hesitant, but then stated that there were private. things on his phone. Here's the. important point. So, this is you're. hearing the account from these different. people, right? The witness statements. What about the digital evidence? While. all of this is going on, police are. apparently looking at surveillance video. from inside the store. And according to this report, it says, quote, "I was advised that there was.

surveillance video from at least one of. the cosmetic aisles that showed Correa. was in fact appearing to video record a. female who was shopping." Now, the thing. about that, the officer says it wasn't. the 12-year-old girl in question that. we've been talking about. No, the video. allegedly shows Correa filming another. girl appearing to be of the same age, quote, "Correa can be seen holding a. black phone with an active video. recording in progress depicted by a. bright red bar at the top of the screen. This contradicts Correa's statement that.

he had not filmed anyone in the store. There was additional surveillance video. showing Correa in the aisle with. redacted just as described, both holding. his phone to his chest, down at his. side, pointing back toward redacted.". And more specifically, they have. descriptions of the actual surveillance. videos, and there's one that says, "Correa is seen near the skin care. lotion items. There is a female. appearing to be a juvenile at the end of. the aisle in a squatting position. looking at merchandise at a low display. Correa walks by her one side of the.

aisle. Correa is holding the red hand. basket in one hand, and in his right. hand, it's not visible on the video. Correa then re-enters the aisle several. seconds later and is seen holding a. phone in his right hand with his arm. extended straight down against his right. leg with the back camera of the phone. appearing to be pointing out. Correa. walks within several feet of the female. pointing the back camera toward her the. entire time. Correa then looks over at. her standing several feet away. The. female starts to leave the aisle, and.

Correa walks closer to her still. pointing the back camera of the phone. toward her. And then there are. descriptions of just specific videos. again what he was allegedly doing. I got. to mention video 12. Video 12 is what he. was allegedly doing in the parking lot. Okay, so there's one thing from what the. father claims happened. This is what. officers say the video shows, quote, "Correa appears to be the only person in. the vehicle. You can see into the. vehicle as there's no tint on the. windows. The detail is hard to make out. in the video, but there appears to be.

sustained movement that occurs in the. driver's seat." So, what happens next? Well, Correa is informed the Target is. issuing him a trespass notice, meaning. he can't come back there for a year. He's also told by police that his phone. is being seized as evidence in an. investigation into public sexual. indecency. They actually find out he's. got two phones, and both are taken. You go to the next day, December 18th, and according to law enforcement, there. was probable cause to arrest Correa as a. stalking suspect now. They find Correa's. car traveling coming off the interstate.

and going onto a highway, but then, according to police, Correa allegedly. spots the police and immediately goes. back onto the interstate. Now, they. eventually are able to track him down. They perform a high-risk traffic stop. He's put in handcuffs. He's arrested. He's ultimately charged with the. following. So, you have sexually. motivated harassment, a misdemeanor. One. count of public sexual indecency, another misdemeanor. And then tampering. with evidence. That's a class six. felony. It's the least serious felony, but could, you know, maybe get 1 year in.

prison. But that's for, according to the. filings here, allegedly trying to get. rid of or getting rid of photos and. videos in this case. Now, I will say the. surveillance footage coupled with the. eyewitness accounts, arguably at first. glance, devastating evidence, compelling. evidence. Also, his allegedly odd and. maybe arguably suspicious behavior with. police, that's not going to help his. case. Oh, I said he was fired, right? So, this is a statement from the Cochise. County Attorney's Office. It says, "Cochise County Attorney Lori Zucco.

today announced the immediate. termination of Paul Correa, Chief Civil. Deputy County Attorney, following an. investigation by the Sierra Vista Police. Department. After being informed of the. nature of the allegations and meeting. with Sierra Vista Police Department this. morning, Zucco made the decision to. terminate Correa's employment. immediately. She also met with the. victims, Sierra Vista Police Department. command staff, and Sheriff Mark Daniels. this afternoon prior to Correa's. termination. The allegations in this. case are deeply disturbing, particularly. for an officer of the court and public.

employee entrusted with the public's. confidence. Zucco said, 'As a career. prosecutor for more than 20 years, I. have zero tolerance for alleged conduct. that so fundamentally violates the. standards of this office. While Mr. Correa is entitled to due process in the. criminal justice system, he can no. longer serve in any capacity in my. office.' Zucco, who was elected by. Cochise County voters in November of. 2024, emphasized that the termination. reflects the seriousness of the. allegations and the obligation of her. office to maintain the highest. professional and ethical standards. And.

by the way, due to a conflict of. interest, clearly, the criminal case had. to be sent over to a different. prosecutor. It's now being handled by. the La Paz County Attorney's Office. But. Zucco also told 13 News that she talked. to all of Correa's staff, saying, 'And. you know, we asked them like was there. any indication of something like this?'. And to a person, women who have worked. with him for years just said, 'No, absolutely not.' Which makes the. allegations just even more bizarre and. chilling to say the least. But that is.

not the end of this story. Why? Because we have learned a little bit. more about Paul Correa and Paul Correa's. history. So, according to reporting from. 13 News and Sierra Vista Herald, Correa. was cited for allegedly driving around a. police barricade. And when you read the. report, I got to say, the level of. perceived arrogance, entitlement, something. So, this is just months. before. This is back March 2025. This. interaction with Bisbee, Arizona police,

quote, "On March 16th, 2025, at. approximately 17:27 hours, a black in. color Volkswagen Jetta entered a DUI. accident scene. The area was blocked off. using a fully marked CCSO patrol vehicle. with red and blue lights along with an A. dot volunteer and cones blocking the. roadway." Basically saying it was very. clear what was going on here. It was. very clear they were blocking it off. Quote, "Officers, to include Cochise. County deputies, approached the vehicle.

and got the driver's license of the. driver, Paul Correa. When the deputy. began telling Correa he could not drive. through the road closure, Correa began. arguing with the deputy and stated he. worked for the Cochise County Attorney's. Office and he was one of us and, quote, 'We did not want to do this.' Sergeant. Moreno and I advised the deputy we would. handle the citation. When Sergeant. Moreno stated this, Correa said, quote, 'Don't do this.' As we walked to my. patrol vehicle, Correa stated, 'Poppy. will drop it.' When I was.

out of my hand and stated, 'I will have. Poppy dismiss it' and signed it without. allowing me to finish my explanation.". Now, I looked it up, and there is a. judge, the Honorable Janice Poppy or. Yancy Poppy of Bisbee Justice Court. Maybe that's who he's talking about. I. think that's a fair argument. Don't know. for sure. But it continues, quote, "He. tore off the wrong copy of the citation.

I took the citation out of his hand and. gave him his correct copy along with his. driver's license. Correa was then safely. turned around and advised to go another. route. Correa returned and began arguing. with the A dot volunteer. Correa told. him it was his fault and he allowed him. to go. The A dot volunteer stated the. road was clearly blocked off and all. other vehicles knew to turn around. The. volunteer also stated he accelerated. past them. Correa stated, quote, 'It was. my fault' and proceeded to drive away.". And I got to note this, too. There's one.

other thing we found. So, back in 2023, a judge awarded a man nearly $2,000 in. sanctions, you know, it's a form of. punishment, against the Cochise County. Attorney's Office. Why? The sanction had. stemmed from Correa, again acting as. Deputy County Attorney at the time, apparently giving legal advice that led. to the County Treasurer to arguably. ignore a court order to issue a deed to. this man in a foreclosure case. I'm not. going to go back and forth, it's kind of. technical, but essentially, Correa. admitted that his advice had caused the.

Treasurer to miss the deadline that he. needed to make in order to issue the. necessary deed. So, seemingly. disregarding the court's time limit. Not. great. Now, Correa, we'll see what. happens. He's due back in court next. month in the Target case, but my gosh, what a situation. That's all we have for. you right now here on Sidebar. Thank. Thank much for joining us, and as. always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you. should get your podcast. >> [music]. >> You can follow me on X or Instagram. I'm. Jesse Weber. I'll speak to you next. time.