A private eye dubbed the "Columbo for Kids" is making a career out of snooping on wayward teens and delivering dossiers on their misdeeds to worried parents.
Retired NYPD cop Andy Spieler videotapes text-happy new drivers, snaps photos of students buying drugs and does surveillance of illicit teenage trysts.
"The kids can feel invaded, and their parents are sometimes conflicted about hiring me," said Spieler, 49. "But in the end parents just want peace of mind. You hope some good comes out of it."
Spieler, who retired from the NYPD in 2002 after a 20-year-career, started doing surveillance on teens about a year ago at the behest of a worried mom.
Word spread about his specialty and business started booming, even with a $75 hourly rate.
"There are a lot of anxious parents out there who suspect their kids aren't telling them the truth," said Spieler, a licensed private investigator who lives in East Meadow, L.I. "They can't follow their kids because they'll be recognized, so I hit the streets for them."
Spieler's sleuthing specialty has earned him colorful nicknames from fellow private eyes, including "Pubescent Pinkerton," and "Teenybopper Bond."
"He found a niche and he's very good at what he does," one gumshoe said.
Here are a few of Spieler's recent cases:
•A Queens mom suspected her teenage daughter of driving dangerously, so she hired Spieler to follow her. He videotaped the girl putting on makeup and texting while zig-zagging through traffic.
•A couple suspected their daughter was still dating a "bad news" boyfriend, even after they forbade her from seeing him. Spieler followed the teen and caught her canoodling with the ex in a parked car.
•After a worried dad suspected his son of hanging with the wrong crowd, Spieler snapped photos of him buying marijuana in Manhattan.
Parents' worst suspicions are often unfounded. Spieler says he has followed kids after school and found them doing "nothing more suspicious than buying ice cream."
Spieler's customers say the undercover work is worth it to make sure they know the truth.
"Better I pry now than you cry later," said Linda, 44, who hired Spieler to tail her 17-year-old son. He caught the teen talking on his cell phone while driving.
"People might say I have trust issues, but my son is safer because I had him followed," the mom said.
What do Spieler's own kids think of his snooping?
"They think I'm running all their friends' license plates and taking DNA swabs off their glasses," Spieler said of his daughter and son, ages 16 and 22. "They know I'm fair - but if something suspicious is going on, I'll be watching."
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