The man reported by neighbors for breaking into their apartment and installing a hidden camera in their bedroom was arrested this Friday (13). The man was identified as Antônio Moreira Alencar, 42 years old. Security cameras at the condominium captured the moment he invaded the couple's property, in Caucaia.
Programmer Luiz Matheus Araújo and his wife, architect Yasmin Paz, discovered the camera on November 3 and filed a police report shortly afterwards. They searched the condominium's cameras and discovered on November 6th footage of Antônio Moreira invading their apartment on October 31st with the materials used to install the 'spy' camera.
The couple also reported the case on social media and, with the repercussions, other people reported having had problems with Antônio. Some of the other victims came to the police station to testify against the man.
The Civil Police requested a preventive arrest warrant against him, and the Court granted the arrest this Friday. He was taken to the 2nd Caucaia Police Station, which is investigating the case.
Luiz Matheus married architect Yasmin Paz in July this year. They said they had been living in the condominium for about four months. However, since the discovery of the camera, they have been staying at Yasmin's parents' house because they don't feel comfortable returning to the condominium until they know the neighbor's whereabouts.
He says he worries above all about his wife, and questions what was done with the camera images.
"I get more like this when I see my wife. She suffers a lot. [...] And apart from the embarrassment, right? Since I discovered the camera, early on Friday, we were sleeping at her parents' house. Then I don't have my privacy, as I'm not at my house. We don't know if he can come back. My things are all at home. I have to get clothes for myself every day, I have to go with someone. I don't know if he can be waiting, since he still has access to everything", says Matheus.
After the case became public, Antônio Moreira sought out the couple through a messaging app and admitted to having entered their apartment while they were away. The man, however, did not mention the camera, and only said that he broke into the apartment to look for a boot that belonged to the couple and that his son would have found beautiful.
On November 3, he was working at home when his cell phone died. He went to get a charger from the room where he and his wife sleep and, when looking for it near the television, he noticed a strange volume under the device. It was then that he discovered the camera, with some cables and charger, held together by duct tape.
Initially, Matheus even questioned whether his wife, Yasmin, had installed the equipment. When they realized they didn't know who owned the camera, they decided to go to the police and hand over all the material. They publicized the case on social media on Monday (9).
The couple noticed that no valuable items were stolen from the house, and Matheus began checking the condominium's security cameras to see if anyone had tried to enter their apartment, which is on the ground floor. Due to access issues, they deduced that someone with access to the condo must have been responsible for the move.
Since the 3rd, they started searching security camera images. In the early hours of November 6th, when looking at the images from October 31st, they saw their neighbor, Antônio Moreira, leave the apartment where he lives, on the first floor, carrying a ladder, a camera in his hand, cables and similar materials.
The movement occurred around 1pm, when Matheus and Yasmin were outside the house.
"He comes down, passes our deck and goes into the hallway. When he goes around the hallway, I said: 'He's going to jump'. When I put it on the camera on our balcony... He takes it and jumps onto our balcony", said Matheus. "I took this footage from Thursday to Friday, right? I spent three days without sleeping for a minute, just searching through these cameras until I found him"
The images, to which g1 had access, show Antônio Moreira leaving the apartment and circulating through the entrance hall with the equipment, at 1 pm. He goes to the back of the apartments and, at 1:01 pm, is caught jumping off the balcony of the couple's property.
At 1:08 pm, he is seen passing through the entrance hall again, without his equipment, and going to his apartment on the first floor. Then, at 1:09 pm, he comes down from the apartment with a cola and returns to the couple's apartment. After a few more minutes, at 1:18 pm, he leaves the apartment with the ladder and some of the material.
After jumping over the balcony for the first time, Antônio Moreira no longer appears in the back area of the apartments. The images suggest that he started using the front door of the property to complete the camera installation and leave the location.
