Police track burglaries with pornographic twist

Police are looking for more victims of a burglar who terrorized residents of a southwest Las Vegas apartment complex by breaking into homes and leaving behind pornography.

For more than a year, 33-year-old Adalid Hernandez would break into women's apartments at the Spanish Palms apartment complex, on Rainbow Boulevard near Hacienda Avenue, according to Las Vegas police.

In one case, a woman awoke to find him standing over her, holding a TV remote control in his hand, having ordered an adult movie on her cable television box, according to his arrest report.

In other cases, he would masturbate inside the person's apartment, sometimes when the person was home asleep, according to police.

What linked the cases -- police document eight victims at the apartment complex dating to December 2006 -- was the pornography he would leave behind, the report said.

One woman found porn, in the form of magazines, DVD movies and adult business cards, on her back porch at least 10 times between February 2007 and February of this year. It happened so frequently that she stopped turning the items over to police and started throwing them away, the report states.

Even when he failed to break into the apartment, he would leave behind pornographic magazines -- in either English or Spanish -- in the window.

"We don't see that every day," Las Vegas police spokesman Jose Montoya said.

Some of the victims moved from the apartment complex because of the frequent break-ins.

Police identified Hernandez early in the investigation, recovering fingerprints off windows and pornographic movies he left behind, including a DVD that a woman found playing on her television when she walked into her apartment.

But he either went into hiding or was "pretty good" at avoiding police, Montoya said. Police had to dispatch a criminal intervention team to find him, he said.

When Hernandez was arrested April 17, he told investigators that he carried out his activities for "sexual gratification" and that he knew he needed help, the report said.

Only on a few occasions did he steal anything, according to the arrest report. Among the stolen items was a laptop computer, cash and prescription medication.

He has been charged with 12 counts of burglary and two counts of aggravated stalking.

Police believe there might be other victims in the case who haven't spoken to police, Montoya said. Those with information are encouraged to call the Metropolitan Police Department's Sexual Assault Unit at 828-3421 or Crime Stoppers at 385-5555.

Contact reporter Lawrence Mower at lmower@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0440.