Xuming Li Florida PhD chemistry graduate arrested injecting opioids under neighbor Umar Abdullah’s door over noisy toilet seat. Neighbor hatched a plan to find source of obnoxious smell pervading his Tampa apartment and making the family of three ongoing sick.
‘He seemed like a regular guy….’ A PhD chemistry student has been caught on camera seemingly injecting opioids under the doorstep of his neighbours home after complaining about them making ’too much noise’. The ongoing episode led to the family of three regularly becoming ill but unable to figure out why?
Xuming Li, 36, is alleged to have contaminated the Tampa, Florida family’s condo with so much ‘chemical agent’ that family member’s regularly vomiting and becoming ill, in particularly the couple’s baby daughter.
The ‘neighbor from hell’ was eventually busted after the family father, Umar Abdullah, reported being overwhelmed by an ‘obnoxious smell’ and hiding a camera in a potted houseplant outside their home in a desperate bid.
‘He seemed like a regular guy…’
Shocking footage shows Li loading up a syringe before crouching down and appearing to inject a clear substance – thought to be strong opioid painkillers methadone and hydrocodone – beneath their door.
Abdullah, who lives with his wife and baby daughter, said he was shocked by Li’s behavior because he seemed like a ‘regular guy’.
Abdullah moved into the Palm Springs Boulevard building with his pregnant wife in June 2022.
Soon after moving in the family began receiving texts from his disgruntled downstairs neighbor, Li, who complained over losing sleep and hearing the toilet seat move.
After months of complaints, Abdullah said he, his wife and daughter began feeling sick and dizzy.
‘I look at my daughter,’ Abdullah told WFLA. ‘Her eyes were full of tears. She was not crying, but her eyes were full of tears.’
Tampa dad hatches a plan
The family were baffled about what was causing their mystery illness, until a friend visited and pointed out an ‘obnoxious’ smell in their home, Abdullah said.
The dad began investigating, starting by calling his air conditioning company, who found no issues.
Abdullah then called a plumber, believing the smell to be coming from his water heater, but that also came out clear.
His landlord even replaced the heater and had his air ducts and vents cleaned – only for the chemical smell to persist.
Desperate to find out what was plaguing his family, Abdullah even called the fire department – only for tests to draw a blank.
Shocked by what hidden video revealed
The parent became increasingly determined to find the source of the smell. ‘I was sniffing the place like a dog,’ he told WFLA.
The sniff test led him to his doorway, where he found a small crack in the corner.
Only now beginning to suspect some form of tampering had taken place, Abdullah set up a hidden camera in a potted plant outside his door.
His daughter became sick again, prompting Abdullah to check the footage – and he was shocked by what he saw.
‘We were shaking,’ he told WFLA. ‘We can’t imagine that he is coming and doing something.’
The footage showed Li, crouching and appearing to place something beneath their door.
Horrified, Abdullah adjusted the camera angle from door-level to eye level to catch what Li was doing in the moments before.
This time, his footage appeared to show Li extracting a syringe, filling it with clear liquid, and injecting it into the crack in Abdullah’s door frame.
‘I hope to work in a harmony atmosphere that people will work together to solve challenging task.’
The terrified father immediately got his family out of the house and called police.
Tampa Police arrested the PhD student, who was a student at the University of Southern Florida until this summer, and booked him with several felony charges, including possession of a controlled dangerous substance and burglary.
His booking page describes him as a 6 foot Asian male weighing 160lb.
A hazmat investigation revealed a ‘liquid chemical agent’ containing methadone and hydrocodone – opioid pain medications – had been pervading their home.
Inhaling high levels of the narcotics can cause shallow breathing, a weakened pulse, difficulty walking, disorientation, slurred speech, and nausea.
Li graduated from the University of Southern Florida in summer 2023 as a PhD chemistry student, the school told WFLA.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Li touts himself as ‘an innovative and goal-driven chemist’.
‘I like facing new challenges in research, and I believe the ability of learning new things will be the most important factor in self-improvement,’ his profile states.
‘I hope to work in a harmony atmosphere that people will work together to solve challenging task.’
Li who made bail is now scheduled to appear next on December 5.
He is also facing a lawsuit from Abdullah for domestic violence and from the condo association for breach of contract.
His daughter has just celebrated her first birthday at the apartment, but after being emotionally scarred by the experience, Abdullah wants to move his family to a new home.
