Wednesday, December 21, 2011

$50 Motion Detector Camera Catches a Crook

NyPo reports:
A computer whiz yesterday busted a brazen burglar at his Manhattan pad — all while sitting at his work desk six blocks away.
Levent Cetiner, 30, an IT ace at the School of Visual Arts in Gramercy, had set up a motion-detection camera in his West 21st Street apartment that sends him real-time photos of his home by e-mail when triggered.

“I live on the top floor and thought it would be easy for someone to come in off the fire escape,” Cetiner told The Post.
“I hoped I wouldn’t actually have to use it, but I thought it was a good idea to have. Plus, I work in IT, and I thought it would be a cool thing to play with.”

“I hoped I wouldn’t actually have to use it, but I thought it was a good idea to have. Plus, I work in IT, and I thought it would be a cool thing to play with.”

But sometime early yesterday afternoon, it snapped a photo of José Perez-Quinonez, 30, of West Harlem climbing into Cetiner’s fourth-floor window in Chelsea, authorities told The Post.

The high-tech gadget — which Cetiner bought online for about $50 — then promptly sent the picture by e-mail to him.
The stunned Cetiner immediately called 911 and raced home.

He arrived to find his apartment locked and Perez-Quinonez allegedly still inside rummaging through his belongings, snatching his laptop computer and iPad.

“I couldn’t get in because he locked the deadbolt from the inside,” Cetiner said.

The frantic gizmo geek said he then pounded on the door and shouted: “You’re being recorded, and the police are on the way!”
About a minute later, the cops arrived, and Cetiner used his smartphone to show them the picture of Perez-Quinonez scrambling into his top-floor apartment through a window off the fire escape.

Read more here.

According to Cetiner, no special skills are required to install and use the camera. Judging from this video it looks as though you just plug it in.



3 comments:

  1. I have a similar camera at my house. Very easy to set up and configure. I haven't caught any bad guys yet, though.

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  2. And he beat the cops there. Imagine that.

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  3. Yeah that's ok, but my webcam is setup so I can remotely track the perp using my mouse then *click* and shoot him with a taser. ;)

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