Residents of a neighborhood in Chino Hills, California, are searching for answers after a hidden camera disguised as a rock was found directly across from several homes.
The device that was buried in the dirt was found by James Dimapasok’s neighbor, a discovery which struck fear into his entire family, the Daily Mail reported on Friday.
Dimapasok downloaded the video from the camera and realized it contained footage of the person who buried it. That individual was wearing gloves at the time. Now, Dimapasok is worried the intent was to case the area for robbery.
The San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department is investigating the case, and Dimapasok said he is adding extra security to his own house.
He wanted the suspect to know that “I have no money… So whatever you’re doing, if it’s money or whatnot, I got nothing and I don’t know why you’re doing it. Just stop.”
More video footage taken from across the street where the camera was placed shows the suspect riding a scooter, per KCAL.
Another neighbor said, “It’s scary, it’s really scary,” when she was interviewed about the discovery. “You’re supposed to feel safe in your own home and in your neighborhood but then something like that happens and then you really don’t know anymore. Times have changed,” she added:
The camera was reportedly powered by a cordless power bank, and “police told Dimapasok that the camera was transmitting off local cell towers, and was potentially used as a live stream of the neighborhood,” the Mail article said.
Breitbart News reported in 2023 that Amazon was taking heat for selling cameras disguised as ordinary, everyday objects, per a lawsuit. The sale of such items could enable perverts to target victims by recording them without their knowledge.
In 2022, an illegal alien was accused of placing a hidden camera in the shower of his wife’s teenage daughter’s bathroom. After he was arrested by officers with the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, authorities charged Horacio Minero-Hernandez with two counts of child sexual exploitation, according to Breitbart News.
