Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly announced that a Brooklyn man was indicted on charges of unlawful surveillance and tampering with evidence for allegedly installing a hidden camera located inside of a false smoke detector in public bathrooms in a sleep center in Manhasset between July 2023 and April 2024 and destroying evidence of the recordings.
Sanjai Syamaprasad, 47, was arraigned before Judge Meryl Berkowitz on grand jury indictment charges including five counts of Unlawful Surveillance in the Second Degree (an E felony) and two counts of Tampering with Physical Evidence (an E felony). The defendant pleaded not guilty and was released on his own recognizance. He is due back in court on June 12, 2025. If convicted, Syamaprasad faces up to 1-1/3 to 4 years in prison.
“The allegations against this defendant are sickening and disturbing. Sanjai Syamaprasad allegedly used hidden cameras secreted in smoke detectors to capture hundreds of videos of patients in bathrooms at a sleep and rehabilitation center, including children. In a further violation, the defendant allegedly even watched some of the videos on his computer while at work,” said DA Donnelly. “Knowing that law enforcement was closing in, the defendant allegedly tried to cover his tracks, breaking up and disposing of the memory card to destroy any evidence of the recordings. We all expect professionals working in medical care to respect and value patient privacy. When they do not, and their actions are criminal, my office will pursue prosecution.”
DA Donnelly said that between at least July 2023 and April 2024, the defendant, a former employee of the Northwell Health Sleep Disorders Center in Manhasset, allegedly affixed a hidden camera made to look like a smoke detector using Velcro discs on the walls inside staff and multiple patient bathrooms within the sleep center and in a public bathroom at STARS Rehabilitation, located in the same building as the sleep center.
Throughout this time period, the cameras captured recordings of approximately hundreds of individuals while they were using the bathrooms.
Based on images recovered and reviewed by NCDA investigators, five individuals were identified on the videos, including a child.
The defendant allegedly removed the camera at the end of his shift and downloaded the footage onto an SD card.
Northwell referred the conduct to the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office in April 2024.
On April 25, 2024, a search warrant was executed on the defendant’s home in Brooklyn and multiple electronics such as phones, an SD card reader, and three laptops were recovered.
Investigators learned that the defendant allegedly destroyed evidence, throwing the smoke detector camera and the broken-up SD card into a trash can at a local CVS pharmacy in Brooklyn. The smoke detector camera was ultimately recovered from a dumpster behind the store by a Nassau County Police Department detective.
The defendant was arrested by NCDA Detective Investigators on April 25, 2024.
The NCDA thanks the Nassau County Police Department and Northwell Health for their cooperation and assistance in this prosecution.
The case is being prosecuted by Deputy Bureau Chief Patrick Brand of the Organized Crime and Rackets Bureau under the supervision of Bureau Chief Jeremy Glicksman and under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for the Investigations Division Rick Whelan. The defendant is represented by Julie Rendelman, Esq.
The charges are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless found guilty.