SoCal homeowner finds hidden camera in bushes outside of his home
By Laurie Perez, Dean Fioresi
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WEST COVINA, California (KCAL, KCBS) — A West Covina homeowner is hoping to spread the word about a troubling crime trend that continues to plague much of Southern California, after he found a hidden camera outside of his home.
He says that he found the device on Friday night.
“I just got my foot and I kicked it to the side and it almost fell off the curb, but it didn’t,” said George Nguyen. “That’s when I realized it was some sort of device or camera.”
He said he saw the light while he was watering the hedges outside of his home. It was covered in artificial grass and tucked into the bushes, pointing directly at his home.
“I felt violated right away. I didn’t know what to think. I was shaken up,” he said.
This is just the latest in a long string of similar incidents spanning across Southern California, police say that burglars are using the cameras to learn the routines of residents so they know when to hit a home.
There have been many similar reports in places like Temecula, Chino Hills, Glendale, Calabasas and Arcadia over the last year.
Nguyen says that he immediately called police before alerting his neighborhood group chat. They were out front of their own homes searching the shrubs within minutes.
“It was a complete shock,” he said.
Police have taken the camera as evidence and say that it could be connected to the other cameras found across the region. They also have video that Nguyen found on his home’s security camera the morning before at around 2:30 a.m.
He said that it shows a person walking in front of his property and near the bushes where the device was found. He believes it was the person responsible for planting the device.
On behalf of his neighborhood, Nguyen wanted to pass a message to the suspect.
“Whoever did this, if they’re watching the TV now or if they’re on … Facebook, I want them to know that they messed with the wrong house, the wrong city,” he said. “We have everything we need to protect ourselves and we’re not afraid to use it.”
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