Twenty-seven-year-old Kyle Hunter Combs hadn’t stepped foot in San Luis Obispo County since he moved to Arizona in December 2025.
Six months later, he gained notoriety in his hometown for an alleged crime he didn’t commit. A court complaint stated that he surreptitiously recorded a woman using the tanning facilities at the Planet Fitness branch in Arroyo Grande.
“I was like, ‘This isn’t me,’” Combs told New Times. “And then it had my full name in the documents that they served and had my middle name and everything too.”
In mid-June, Combs’ mother, Grover Beach resident Stacy Combs, received the plaintiff’s complaint—drafted by Frederick Law Firm—from a process server. The server handed Stacy the papers after learning that Combs lives in Arizona.
The lawsuit is the first of two litigations filed by three women against the South County Planet Fitness location. Both complaints allege that a man named Kyle Combs sneaked into the gym’s private tanning rooms and secretly recorded women lounging there. Both complaints demanded jury trials and sued Planet Fitness and the man named Kyle Combs for negligence, intrusion on the right of privacy, and infliction of emotional distress.
While one of the lawsuits named the defendant as Kyle Combs, Frederick Law Firm’s June 3 complaint specified the alleged perpetrator was Kyle Hunter Combs.
“During one incident, plaintiff saw an arm holding a cellular telephone or similar electronic device pointed toward her body from the side of the tanning bed near the tanning room door,” the Frederick Law firm complaint said. “Once plaintiff noticed the phone, the arm and phone were retracted, and the person left. On information and belief, the person holding the phone was defendant Combs.”
The Arroyo Grande Police Department learned of the crime in December 2025 after someone called to report a man recording a partially nude woman in a tanning booth. The suspect had fled the scene by the time officers arrived at Planet Fitness. In an April press release, police said they identified a suspect based on witness statements and review of surveillance footage.
‘I called the lawyer’s office that served the papers, and it seemed like they had already known about it. The lady on the phone was like, “What’s it about?” I told her my name, and she already knew the situation, and they kind of just like laughed about it too, like, “Oh, it was just a mix up,” and I was like, “Well, it’s more than that for me.”’
—Kyle Hunter Combs, Arizona resident
Through search warrants served on the suspect’s residence and electronic devices and subsequent forensic analysis, police uncovered more than 50 videos from January 2025 to December 2025 that showed women inside tanning and red-light therapy rooms.
The Police Department confirmed in a press release on June 16 that investigators identified 23 victims seen in the videos.
That press release, circulated the same week Kyle Hunter Combs’ mother was served the complaint, also revealed the identity of the suspect: a 40-year-old Grover Beach resident called Kyle L. Combs.
The press release added that police initially withheld the suspect’s identity to “protect the integrity of the investigation and avoid compromising investigative efforts while investigators worked to identify victims.”
Administrative Sgt. Jeremy Burns told New Times that he wasn’t aware that Frederick Law Firm served the wrong Kyle Combs, since that lawsuit is part of a civil process. The Arroyo Grande Police Department is only involved in the criminal investigation process.
“We have not provided any surveillance footage to Frederick’s Law or any other parties, as our case was just submitted to the SLO County District Attorney’s Office,” Burns said. “We never released a name of the suspect to any law firm, and the only release of the name of Kyle L. Combs, was last week when we sent out the media release.”
As of June 29, Frederick Law Firm’s complaint still incorrectly named the defendant as Kyle Hunter Combs.
Law firm founder William Frederick confirmed he was alerted about the mistaken service issue on June 18.
“That same day, our office acknowledged the issue in writing; advised the individual referenced in your email that he did not need to file anything, take responsive action, or otherwise participate in the matter; and submitted a correction/amendment to the court,” he said via email. “The correction/amendment is currently awaiting clerk processing/file-stamp. Once the court processes the filing, we will send the file-stamped copy to the individual referenced in your email for his records.”
By July 1, an amended complaint listed the defendant as Kyle L. Combs.
But the mix-up proved to be distressing for Arizona-based Combs and his family. He told New Times that he and his mother paid for an online records history service and figured out there was another Kyle Combs with a different middle name living in Grover Beach.
“I called the lawyer’s office that served the papers, and it seemed like they had already known about it,” Combs said. “The lady on the phone was like, ‘What’s it about?’ I told her my name, and she already knew the situation, and they kind of just like laughed about it too, like, ‘Oh, it was just a mix-up,’ and I was like, ‘Well, it’s more than that for me.’”
Frederick refuted Combs’ claims.
“The suggestion that our office was aware of the issue before it was brought to our attention, failed to address it once notified, or laughed about the issue is not accurate,” he said.
Combs’ mother, Stacy, said that in the hours after being served the complaint and once local media outlets began reporting on the case, news of him being the alleged Planet Fitness Peeping Tom spread on social media.
“I was so confused, and then my son’s calling me crying—because they were posting it on social media—saying, ‘Everybody thinks I did this,’” she said. “I have two other children, and they were calling me because their friends who know Kyle, my family, were sending them screenshots [of news articles] of it all too.”
Stacy added that people online claimed to possess her address and phone number thinking those details belonged to Combs.
“My other son called me and told me, ‘Mom, you better be careful. They have your address and they’re saying nasty things online,’” she said. “I went down to my parents’ house.”
Since the Arroyo Grande Police Department released the name of the suspect, local news reports now accurately name him as Kyle L. Combs.
On June 26, the SLO County DA’s Office announced the filing of an arrest warrant for Kyle L. Combs along with a 12-count misdemeanor charge. The declaration included a photograph of Kyle L. Combs.
Under California law, allegations involving secretly recording multiple nude victims in private tanning booths are generally considered misdemeanor charges.
DA Dan Dow suggested residents contact their state Assembly member or senator if they believe the crime should be punishable as a felony, since that change must come from the California Legislature.
While awaiting a corrected civil complaint along with confirmation from Frederick Law that the change is reflected, Kyle Hunter Combs told New Times he was searching for representation for himself.
“I was gonna look into getting an attorney for … getting a case for defamation or something like that, but I haven’t found the right one, like some of them don’t handle that type of case, you know?” ∆
Reach Staff Writer Bulbul Rajagopal at brajagopal@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in July 2-9, 2026.
