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A Florida man caught on camera injecting an unknown substance into his upstairs neighbor’s front door has been deported to China, Law&Crime has learned.
Xuming Li, 36, was charged this summer with three counts of battery, two counts of aggravated stalking, and one count each of burglary, possession of a controlled substance, and battery on a law enforcement officer, Law&Crime previously reported.
According to Thirteenth Judicial Circuit court records Li had a hearing scheduled for Dec. 5 but was not in court that day. The judge overseeing the case issued a capias warrant — which directs law enforcement to detain and hold someone until they appear in court. The warrant is now somewhat, but not entirely, moot, officials say.
His recent courtroom absence, however, was not by his own making, authorities say. He was recently detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Li had been out on bond since the charges against him were filed in late June.
“ICE deported him before the hearing,” a spokesperson for the 13th Judicial Circuit state’s attorney’s office told Law&Crime. “The judge issued a capias warrant, which essentially means if he were to ever try to enter the country again, he would face those charges again. Technically, it will remain a pending case in our office because if he were to enter the country again, he would face the charges.”
The allegations came after victims secretly filmed an assailant injecting something into the front door of their condominium.
Umar Abdullah and his then-pregnant wife moved into their new home in June 2022, the husband told Tampa-based NBC affiliate WFLA earlier this year. The couple’s baby girl was born, and the sounds of new life filled the residence — eventually upsetting their downstairs neighbor.
Abdullah said Li would text him about the most infinitesimal and unobtrusive noises — such as a toilet seat moving — complaining the sounds above him kept him from much-needed sleep.
“He complained about footsteps,” Abdullah told local Fox affiliate WTVT. “He complained about door closing sounds. My landlord and I did a simulation, and we could hardly find any sound.”
A Florida man, identified as Xuming Li, injects a chemical substance into a door frame; Li also appears in a mug shot, inset on the left; a close-up of the syringe used in the chemical attack appears inset on the right. (Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office)
The complaints from the man downstairs continued for months, Abdullah said. His defenses against the claims of noisiness did as well.
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Then, the family started getting sick — grogginess, vomiting, and more. At first, Abdullah said, the illnesses were a mystery. However, a friend noticed a distinct chemical smell when the family went on vacation. Once the family returned, they noticed the smell as well: something like nail polish remover, Abdullah told WFLA, but more “obnoxious.”
Realizing the smell was likely the culprit for the bizarre and seemingly unending sicknesses, the family tried everything they could to isolate and eradicate the source. An air conditioning company tried to solve the problem. A plumber checked the water heater — and the landlord even had the heater replaced. The air ducts and vents were thoroughly cleaned. But the smell came back — again and again. Even the local fire department’s experts couldn’t figure it out.
Eventually, the new father noticed a small crack in the corner of his front door. That’s when his thoughts returned to his neighbor.
“I installed a hidden camera outside, because we were suspecting someone is basically tampering with our place from outside,” Abdullah said in comments to WTVT. “And then we got our neighbor injecting something through our door.”
A hazardous materials test by the Tampa Police Department determined Li was injecting a “liquid” that law enforcement termed a “chemical agent” into the crack in the family’s door. Testing showed the presence of both methadone and hydrocodone in that agent.
A cash bond in the case came quickly. Li pleaded not guilty to all of the charges. There were several updates in the case between the arrest and late last month when discovery notices were issued, according to Hillsborough County court records. But the allegations eventually went viral.
The defendant was on a student visa and studying chemistry at the University of South Florida when the charges were filed. After his arrest, however, and international media attention about the case, he was expelled from school. Eventually, Li’s visa was revoked.
While the court and local law enforcement in the Sunshine State were left in the lurch by the ICE action, that doesn’t mean the criminal case itself is necessarily defunct — and not dismissed. If the defendant ever makes it back to the United States, an outstanding warrant for his detention would likely be enforced.
“It’s kind of on pause unless or until he returns to the States,” Li’s attorney, Adam Bantner, told Law&Crime.
His attorney confirmed that he is already out of the country.
Representatives from the 13th Judicial Circuit and ICE did not immediately respond to requests for additional details from Law&Crime.
