Landlord Breaks Into Apartment, Sniffs Tenants' Underwear: Cops

EAST HAVEN, CT —A hidden camera caught a landlord entering a tenant's home and sniffing the undergarments of a woman and her daughter, police said.

Jorge Orellana-Arias, 38, was arrested and charged with third-degree burglary.

According to East Haven police Capt. Joseph M. Murgo, on May 5, a woman told police about "ongoing issues with her landlord." She said that Orellana-Arias had come into her apartment when no one was home without permission. She said that Orellana-Arias would go into her and her daughter's bedroom and "would go through their clothing, including their underwear."

The woman said that once she suspected someone was breaking in, she "went to great lengths to make it difficult to get into her apartment, including barricading adjoining doors." She said that after she barricaded one entrance, Orellana-Arias used another door to gain access to her apartment, Murgo said.

She then told police that she set up "hidden cameras in several locations throughout the house including her bedroom and her daughter’s bedroom to prove that someone was entering her dwelling when it was unoccupied."

Police viewed the video that showed Orellana-Arias coming into her apartment through a side door, then going to both bedrooms and gathered undergarments and, Murgo said, he began to sniff them.

The woman also told police that on at least one occasion, Orellana-Arias went into her apartment "while her daughter was home alone" and that he "appeared to be startled when he saw the daughter and exited the apartment immediately."

The East Haven Police Department Investigative Services Division further investigated and ultimately applied for an arrest warrant.

Orellana-Arias was taken into custody Friday and was charged and released on a $25,000 bond. He's due back in court Sept. 14.