A Florida man was caught on camera injecting chemicals underneath the front door of the apartment above his home after complaining that his neighbors — who had just had a baby — were too loud. (See video below, posted by Law & Crime Network.)
When his neighbors, Umar Abdullah and his wife, noticed mysterious odors inside their home that smelled like chemicals, they were baffled. And then when their baby came down with a mysterious illness that included vomiting and grogginess — they became suspicious.
Turns out the footage, from a hidden camera they had installed, showed the downstairs gentleman, Xuming Li — a chemical PhD student who had attended the University of Southern Florida — had seemingly pumped a "liquid chemical agent" into their home that contained opioid medications, including methodone and hydrocodone, according to wfla.com.
He was arrested on felony charges but is out on bond.
From wfla:
Abdullah said a friend of his first smelled the chemicals when she went to bring in a package while Abdullah was on vacation. When the family returned, they said smelled it too. Though some described it as nail polish remover, Abdullah said it was more 'obnoxious.'
First, he said he called an air conditioning company, but they said nothing was wrong. A plumber checked out the water heater, where the smell appeared to be coming from, but that was fine too, though Abdullah said his landlord had it replaced. The smell kept returning, even after the air ducts and vents were cleaned too. …
After all the suspects he could think of were checked off, he said he thought about his downstairs neighbor, who kept complaining of noises that Abdullah eventually believed didn't exist. When Abdullah took a skewer to his door, he said he found a crack in the corner that a syringe could fit through. He installed a hidden camera in the plant outside.
On a day when he said he noticed his daughter sick again, he checked the hidden camera. …
He got his family out of the house, then called the police. Li was arrested and charged with multiple felonies, including possession of a controlled substance and burglary.
The Abdullahs are now looking for a new place to live — preferably a single family home.
