Hidden camera in north Auburn potentially used to case homes, authorities say
Placer County authorities are warning of hidden cameras used by would-be thieves to spy on homes after a camera was discovered outside a north Auburn home — the first time the technology has been spotted in the county, said sheriff’s officials.
The warning from Placer County Sheriff’s Office comes after a Dec. 19 discovery by a sheriff’s detective outside the Auburn home. The detective was following up on an earlier investigation when they found the battery-powered camera disguised by imitation foliage to blend in with the landscape.
“Detectives are reviewing the device to determine what footage may have been captured and whether it is connected to other incidents,” Placer County Sheriff’s Office said in a public safety alert posted to social media. “While this surveillance method has been documented in other jurisdictions, it had not previously been identified locally until now.”
Sheriff’s officials in the alert suggested a link to so-called South American Theft Groups, described by officials as loose criminal networks whose members come from South America, and a number of lucrative five- and six-figure residential burglaries in Granite Bay, Loomis and Roseville over the past several years.
Officials said the groups are known to use “extensive pre-crime surveillance,” planting cameras, utilizing fake identities and stolen vehicles, jamming electronic communications and mining information online to case homes.
Sacramento County Sheriff’s officials have not had similar cases reported, said Lt. Amar Gandhi, a Sacramento County sheriff’s spokesman, but Gandhi said members of a Colombian theft ring arrested in October and suspected of breaking into jewelry stores in Sacramento in September and in Lodi in October used similar surveillance methods to case their targets.
The four-person crew was casing jewelry stores in Sacramento, Lodi, Stockton and the Bay Area before the heists, said Sacramento sheriff’s officials.
The sheriff’s office is asking residents not to touch or remove unfamiliar objects in bushes or landscaping, especially if they resemble cameras or electronic devices; and to report any suspicious equipment or activity immediately to law enforcement.
This story was originally published December 30, 2025 at 11:59 AM.
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