Arlington Heights man charged with secretly filming neighbors
An Arlington Heights man faces charges of residential burglary and unlawful videotaping after authorities say he installed a hidden camera in his neighbor's bathroom and used it to record images of the woman who lived there.
Samuel Gadamandla, 52, was ordered held on $175,000 bail Wednesday by Cook County Judge Joseph Cataldo. If convicted of the most serious, charge, Gadamandla faces up to 15 years in prison; probation would not be an option.
Gadamandla was arrested Monday. Police recovered camera equipment and an external hard drive from Gadamandla's residence, along with thousands of still images and hundreds of movies of his female neighbor, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors say Gadamandla obtained a key to his neighbors' apartment in June 2015 from the apartment complex leasing office.
The following November, he entered the home when the residents were not there and placed a camera inside a vent in the bathroom, recording the residents for hours until the battery died, prosecutors said. Authorities say Gadamandla entered his neighbors' home when they were not home to replace the camera and battery and downloaded videos of the adult female resident, discarding footage of the apartment's other two occupants.
Prosecutors say Gadamandla switched to a motion-sensitive camera in February and continued to download videos to an external hard drive. On April 22, a male resident of the apartment noticed a shiny object in the vent and uncovered the camera. He plugged in the memory card, saw the videos and informed the police, prosecutors said.
Later that evening the male resident set up surveillance video and he and the other residents went to dinner. The surveillance video showed Gadamandla entering the room twice that night, searching for the camera, prosecutors said.
Arlington Heights police said Gadamandla admitted entering the apartment and placing the camera in the vent.
Gadamandla, who has no criminal background, next appears in court on May, 19.