Manhattan woman catches super in her apartment on video stealing her underwear

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Ashley Chase has made a secret video recording inside her apartment, which led to the arrest of her super, 32-year-old Jose Cedillo
Cedillo allegedly admitted to sneaking inside the woman's unit while she was away, sniffing her used underwear and then throwing them away
Chase first noticed that her lingerie began disappearing more than a year ago
In September, she used an app that activates the cell phone camera when motion is detected to catch the culprit

Published: 10:29 EST, 23 November 2015 | Updated: 17:36 EST, 23 November 2015

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When Ashley Chase began noticing that her lingerie was disappearing from her apartment, she set up a secret camera hoping to shed light on the mystery - and caught her building's superintendent smelling and stealing her delicates.

Chase, a senior financial analyst from Manhattan, made the shocking discovery in early September, leading to the arrest of 32-year-old Jose Cedillo on charges of burglary as a sexually motivated felony and petit larceny.

The victim later went before a grand jury and testified against Cedillo, which resulted in his indictment, Chase's attorney told Daily Mail Online Monday. The super has pleaded not guilty to the charges and is currently out on $50,000 bail.

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Gross allegations: Ashley Chase (left and right), 26, a financial analyst from Manhattan, says she has busted her super sniffing and stealing her underwear from her apartment

It all first started a year earlier, not long after Chase moved into 334 East 55th Street in Manhattan, when she returned home to her studio apartment from a weekend away and noticed that one of her bras was missing.

In the next weeks and months, several more intimates have vanished from Chase's home, including three pairs of underwear, four more bras and a bikini top, reported the New York Post.

Then in July of this year, the tenant became aware that a pair of panties she had placed in the hamper vanished without a trace, leading to the realization that the undergarment thief must have been someone who had access to her apartment.

Determined to unmask the culprit, Chase downloaded an app onto an old smartphone that automatically activates the camera whenever motion is detected.

With the trap set, on September 4 the 26-year-old headed to Long Island for the weekend, riding in the elevator with her super, Jose Cedillo

The bizarre undergarment heist took place at 334 East 55th Street in Manhattan (pictured)

Unwelcome guest: This video secretly recorded by Chase appears to show her super, Jose Cedillo (left and right), walking around her empty apartment and opening a hallway closet

Kinky: This screenshot appears to show the 32-year-old man sniffing something. Chase says he took a whiff of her dirty underwear

Lights out: Cedillo allegedly walked out of the unit with the stolen panties in tow and later tossed them in the trash

Ten minutes after her departure, the woman got an alert on her phone that someone was walking around her empty unit.

In the secret recording, a man identified by Chase as Cedillo is allegedly seen sneaking inside her apartment and switching on the light.

Chase said later in the clip, Cedillo appears to be holding pair of her unmentionables to his face and sniffing them.

When questioned by police, the 32-year-old man allegedly admitted to the repulsive act, reportedly telling investigators that he took a whiff of Chase's used undergarments and them tossed them in the trash.

On a warpath: Chase now plans to sue Cedillo, the owners of her building and the company that manages the property

The suspected panty thief also allegedly revealed that he had entered Chase's unit without her knowledge a few months prior, but Chase and her attorney believe it's happened more than just twice.

Chase's attorney, Benedict Morelli, told Daily Mail Online that his client, who holds a Bachelor’s degree in mathematics and a Master's degree in finance from Hofstra University, is an independent woman who had lived on her own for four years, but now she has moved in with a roommate because she is concerned for her safety.

'She was so shocked and she said... that she felt violated and she no longer felt safe,' Morelli revealed in a phone interview.

Chase has retained the services of Morelli and plans to sue Cedillo, the owners of her building and the company that manages the property.

Morelli, a veteran personal injury attorney who represented comedian Tracy Morgan in his lawsuit against Walmart after his near-fatal car accident, told Daily Mail he has reached out to the owner of the building on East 55th Street, Michael Sacchetti, asking him to apologize to Chase and make the necessary amends.

But according to the attorney, Sacchetti 'didn't want to do things the easy way.'

'We're in a society where everybody is worried about a liability instead of a responsibility,' Morelli said, adding that his client wants to make sure what happened to her would not happen to anyone else.