Former Coors Classic race director Michael Aisner has been charged with multiple crimes after prosecutors in Colorado accused him of secretly recording guests in his Boulder home.
The Boulder Daily Camera reported earlier this week that Aisner, 70, has been charged with "invasion of privacy for sexual gratification, attempted invasion of privacy for sexual gratification and tampering with physical evidence."
Aisner, who continues to be involved in cycling as an announcer at US races, rose to prominence in cycling as race director of the Coors International Bicycle Classic, a trailblazing US race that ran from 1980 to 1988 and was won by Greg Lemond, Dale Stetina, Raul Alcala, Bernard Hinault, Connie Carpenter-Phinney, Rebecca Twigg, Jeannie Longo and Inga Thompson, among others.
The recent charges in Boulder stem from Aisner's involvement with a "couch surfing app," according to the Daily Camera, and allegations that he secretly recorded male guests in the shower after encouraging them to use his personal bathroom. Authorities began investigating after one of Aisner's guests said he "noticed what appeared to be a 'semi-hidden' mini spy camera pointed at the shower."
Police searched Aisner's residence and seized a 'Tangmi Mini Spy Camera' along with a computer that contained video files, "seven of which depicted males naked from the waist down entering the shower," according to the Daily Camera.
Other videos seized during the search show men already in the shower with the curtain closed, as well as Aisner placing and removing the camera and asking someone how to delete or overwrite files from the camera, according to the Daily Camera.
Aisner denied the accusations, according to the Daily Camera, telling authorities "that the camera was never on in the bathroom and that he did not have any videos of people showering on the computer."
“Based on those statements and his attempt to delete the videos from the SD card, Michael was obviously being deceitful in his statements to avoid any criminal charges,” a detective wrote in the arrest affidavit, according to the Daily Camera.
Aisner is scheduled for an arraignment on November 15 and is currently free on $2,500 bond.
