Police say man snuck cameras into 2 families’ Northwest Austin homes
A man whom Austin police have accused of breaking into his neighbors’ home and installing a hidden camera in the bathroom was arrested again last week on allegations of similar conduct involving a second neighbor.
The investigation into both incidents started in March 2019 when a homeowner on Champion Drive in Northwest Austin discovered a wireless electronic device plugged into an outlet behind a mirror during a remodel of her bathroom.
Investigators traced the device to 51-year-old Michael Sagues, who lived next door, through surveillance footage that they said showed him entering the home wearing clothes that they later found in his residence. Soon after Sagues was arrested in August, police held a news conference and said he might have been watching a second family through a hidden camera.
The allegations involving that family led to the new charges, Detective Christophe Wood of the Police Department’s residential burglary unit said Tuesday. Wood added that the evidence was discovered in an electronic storage device located in Sagues’ residence.
“At this time there are no new victims in this investigation and APD currently has no unidentified victims,” Wood said.
A Travis County grand jury indicted Sagues on Feb. 7 on two new counts of burglary of a habitation, one involving the new accusation and another for allegedly breaking into the Champion Drive home. Sagues had previously been indicted for another alleged break-in at that address.
Sagues turned himself into Travis County Jail on Feb. 14 and was released immediately on a personal bond in lieu of $100,000 bail. Additional details about the allegations in the new case were not admitted into court records.
The homes that Sagues is charged with breaking into are in a neighborhood located between Spicewood Springs and Anderson Mill roads near U.S 183. Sagues, per the conditions of his release, is forbidden from entering the neighborhood. Court records show Sagues’ wife initiated divorce proceedings in August and that Sagues now lives in Dallas.
A month after his first arrest, Sagues picked up a new charge for child pornography after detectives investigating the Champion Drive break-in obtained a warrant to search Sagues’ electronic devices and said they found images that depicted child nudity and child erotica on two computers that he owned. The images, police said, did not appear to be related to the break-in.
The evidence authorities say they have on Sagues in the first break-in include two hard drives with images showing the homeowners in various stages of undressing. The victims told police they had socialized with Sagues and had been to his home to swim.
Sagues’ lawyer, Joe Shin, said Tuesday he is still evaluating the evidence in the case.
“Until we’re able to completely and thoroughly review all of the discovery, we cannot comment further,” he said.
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