Police body cameras show the late-night arrest of 37-year-old Nichiren Rugeles Ogando after detectives responded to “a suspicious incident.”
In custody, a Coral Springs Police detective asked Rugeles Ogando about a call the department received the day before, accusing him of secretly recording his girlfriend and her two children.
According to the police report, his girlfriend told investigators she “discovered a smoke detector in her children’s bathroom,” which contained an SD card. She told them she did not install the device and did not give permission to any person to install it. The police report states the camera was placed over the toilet and shower. NBC 6 Investigators exclusively obtained video of the police interrogation of Rugeles Ogando.
In the video, a detective asked him if “mom” knew anything about the camera, referring to his girlfriend.
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He responded no.
"She don't know,” he said, then told the detective he put the camera up for security reasons, to make sure the children did not talk to strangers through her tablet online.
Then, the detective questioned him about the videos.
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Detective: “You can watch the videos on your phone right?”
Rugeles Ogando: “Yes.”
Detective: "Ok. And what did you see on the videos?”
Rugeles Ogando: "I didn't check it.”
Detective: "You haven't watched it?”
Rugeles Ogando: No.
But the detective wasn’t buying it. She brought a laptop with videos she claimed came from his phone.
"You know what I see them doing? Going to the bathroom and taking a shower,” she told Rugeles Ogando.
According to the police report, they found 12 videos of his girlfriend, 32 videos of a seven year old, and 65 videos of a 16 year old, undressing or using the bathroom.
Rugeles Ogando was charged with three counts of voyeurism. He pleaded not guilty and remains in custody. His attorney, Marlyse Mercado, declined to comment on the charges and the videos obtained by NBC 6 Investigators.
“Respectfully, no comment,” Mercado wrote in an email.
After speaking with the detective for more than 40 minutes, Rugeles Ogando apologized. “Sorry for what?” the detective asked him. "For recording them,” he responded.
"What do you think they're thinking about you right now?” she later asked.
"They are really mad right now. I'm pretty sure they are really, really mad for me,” he said.“
You violated their privacy,” the detective told him.
Hidden Cameras: Smaller and Harder to Spot
Evan Tannenbaum from Spy Spot Investigations told NBC 6 smoke detector cameras are among the most popular hidden camera products along with clocks and wall plug chargers.
“Cameras are so small nowadays. They’re in anything,” Tannenbaum said.
He said most cameras today send video to your phone using Bluetooth or Wi-Fi so a detector is able to spot them.
Tannenbaum said hidden cameras and products to find them have become more common with the rise of short-term rentals because people want to know what’s going on in their property and visitors want to know if they’re being watched.
The legal line, Tannenbaum said, is when someone would have a reasonable expectation of privacy. So cameras in a bathroom?
“Yeah, that would be illegal at that point,” he said. “If they are unaware that there’s cameras in the home, and it’s in the bathroom - that would be an invasion of privacy,” he said.
Florida law does allow you to record video on your property or in a public place where there is no expectation of privacy.As for audio, Florida is a two-party consent state, which means most times both parties have to agree to be recorded.
