Union City man charged with spying on ex-girlfriend in her apartment next door

By Michaelangelo Conte/The Jersey Journal
on December 19, 2012 at 2:40 PM

http://media.nj.com/njo_top_stories/...f638b07014.jpg
Juan P. Balan Estrada

The superintendent of a Union City building has been charged with installing a hidden camera in an apartment adjacent to his that is occupied by his former girlfriend, officials said.

Bail for Juan P. Balan Estrada, 47, of the 400 block of 43rd Street, was set at $30,000 cash or bond when he made his first court appearance yesterday via video link from Hudson County jail in Kearny.

The 39-year-old former girlfriend called police Sunday saying she found Balan Estrada in her home installing a smoke detector at 5 p.m. that day and noticed the detector had wires behind it, a police report says.

She showed the detector to responding officers and they then went to Balan Estrada’s „8„apartment, where they found a television/VCR showing real-time video images of the victim’s apartment, the report says.

The officers also found holes in a wall through which wires from the smoke detector went into Balan Estrada’s apartment, the report says, adding that Balan Estrada did not deny the allegations.

Balan Estrada has been charged with burglary, invasion of privacy and stalking for installing “video surveillance monitoring” in the victim’s apartment, causing her “to fear for her safety and suffer emotional distress,” the criminal complaint says.

The defendant and victim had a 12-year relationship and they have a child, the report says. Balan Estrada is a Guatemalan native and is an undocumented alien, a court official said. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement will be notified of his arrest and ICE may place a detainer on him in preparation for deportation.

Union City man charged with spying on ex-girlfriend in her apartment next door | NJ.com