TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — After moving into their new condominium in June 2022, Umar Abdullah and his expectant wife were ready to welcome their daughter. They met their neighbors, and soon enough, a newborn was kicking around the place.

Shortly thereafter, his downstairs neighbor, Xuming Li, began texting him, complaining of noises from upstairs. In texts shared with Nexstar’s WFLA, Li said he couldn’t sleep and could hear the toilet seat being moved.

After months of back and forth between the two men, Abdullah and his family began experiencing grogginess, sickness and vomiting.

“I look at my daughter,” Abdullah said. “Her eyes were full of tears. She was not crying, but her eyes were full of tears.”

Abdullah said a friend of his first smelled the chemicals when she went to bring in a package while Abdullah was on vacation. When the family returned, they said smelled it too. Though some described it as nail polish remover, Abdullah said it was more “obnoxious.”

First, he said he called an air conditioning company, but they said nothing was wrong. A plumber checked out the water heater, but that was fine too, though Abdullah said his landlord had it replaced anyway. The smell kept returning, even after the air ducts and vents were cleaned too.

He even called the fire department, but their tests didn’t reveal anything.

“Then, I actually double checked,” Abdullah said. “I started sniffing that place like a dog.”

After all the suspects he could think of were checked off, Abdullah said his thoughts turned to his downstairs neighbor, who kept complaining of noises that Abdullah eventually believed didn’t exist. When Abdullah found a crack in the corner of his door that a syringe could fit through, he installed a hidden camera in the plant outside.

“Even during war, the worst enemies do not attack the opponent, the other party, with chemicals,” Abdullah said.

On a day when he said he noticed his daughter was sick again, he checked the hidden camera. It appeared to show his downstairs neighbor crouching down in front of Abdullah’s front door, but the angle was not clear enough to tell what was going on.

“We were shaking,” Abdullah said. “We can’t imagine that he is coming and doing something.”

After adjusting the hidden camera angle, Abdullah said he waited until his daughter got sick again. He checked the footage and saw his neighbor. This time, the video appeared to show his neighbor taking a syringe out, filling it with liquid, then injecting the liquid into the crack in Abdullah’s doorframe.

“The first [thing] that came to my mind — my daughter and my wife,” Abdullah said. “They need to be safe.”

He got his family out of the house, and then called the police. Li was arrested and charged with multiple felonies, including possession of a controlled substance and burglary. According to a Tampa Police Department affidavit, a hazmat test found the liquid “chemical agent” contained both methadone and hydrocodone — opioid pain medications.

Abdullah doesn’t want to think about any long-term side effects on his daughter.

Li’s arrest record lists him as a student at the University of South Florida, but the school told WFLA he was a chemistry Ph.D. student and is no longer enrolled there — his last semester was summer 2023.

Li is out on bond. His next hearing is December 5. He’s also facing lawsuits from Abdullah for domestic violence and the condo association for breach of contract.

In a statement to WFLA, Li’s attorney said Li pleaded not guilty and all of the facts will come in due course of time.

Abdullah’s daughter celebrated her first birthday a couple of weeks ago, in the same condo. He said the family is looking for a new place, but it’s hard to find one with their new specifications.