Police Say Man Entered Multiple Unlocked Apartments

A Ferguson Township man is facing felony and misdemeanor charges after he allegedly entered or tried to enter apartments of people he did not know.

According to criminal complaints filed by Ferguson Township police, Nnaemeka Ani, 23, allegedly admitted to a detective that he entered apartments at 1100 W. Aaron Dr.

Police were dispatched twice on Dec. 15 for reports of an intruder entering apartments. The first occurred at 6:40 a.m., when a resident said a male wearing a dark hoodie entered her bedroom before fleeing. She also said an unknown male with the same build and wearing a hoodie entered her apartment two weeks earlier and fled when she yelled at him, but she did not contact police at the time.

Later on Dec. 15, the resident of another apartment contacted police and said that at about 6:45 a.m. someone entered her apartment and tried to gain entry to her locked bedroom. She said the person appeared to be using a flashlight from a cell phone and that he fled when her dog began to growl. She also found the person who entered had dropped Chinese yuan currency outside of her door.

Police observed the same distinctive muddy shoe print on a yoga mat inside the first apartment and on the back deck of the second apartment, according to the complaint.

At about 7 a.m. on Dec. 17, police were again dispatched to an apartment in the same complex for a report of someone trying to gain  entry through a back door and shining a flashlight into the apartment. Police later observed shoe prints on the apartment’s deck matching those found two days earlier.

Upon arrival, police observed a male, matching the height and build of the earlier suspect and wearing a dark hoodie, walking toward 1000 W. Aaron Dr.,  according to the complaint. 

After making contact with Ani and going with him to his nearby apartment, police said the sneakers he was wearing were consistent with the shoe prints found at each incident and had mud on them. After he was taken into custody, he was found to have several denominations of Chinese yuan bills.

In an interview with police, Ani allegedly said he knocked before entering apartments and when no one answered he went in.

‘That’s where I’m wrong,’ he said, according to the complaint.

He allegedly said he entered apartments ‘less than three’ times and each was at 1100 W. Aaron Dr.

Ani was initially charged with one felony count of criminal trespass and one misdemeanor count of loitering and prowling. Those charges were held for trial after a preliminary hearing on Wednesday. He was unable to post $30,000 straight monetary bail and was being held at the Centre County Correctional Facility

Later on Wednesday, he was charged with two additional counts of criminal trespass and one additional count of loitering and prowling. Bail on those charges was set at $40,000 and another preliminary hearing is scheduled for Jan. 2