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Akron police say this man was caught by a camera defecating on someone's car Tuesday. At least 18 other neighbors have reported that someone pooped on their car since 2012.

(cleveland.com)

Ohio police are much closer to nabbing a serial pooper after a city worker in Akron used a remote camera to catch a man who authorities believe defecated on at least 19 cars since 2012.

The camera caught the suspect Tuesday with his pants down and looking right at the lens while going to the bathroom over the hood of a car, according to a report on cleveland.com.

Akron police on Wednesday were working to identify the culprit. Residents, including the man who took the shot, did not recognize him.

Police believe the man defecated on vehicles of at least 19 residents since 2012, sometimes multiple times.

The man who set up the camera asked not to be identified for fear of retaliation by the at-large suspect. He said his daughter's car had been soiled seven times since Oct. 27.

So he decided last month to use the camera to find the culprit, setting it up to take a shot every 12 seconds at night.

"He messed with the wrong guy," the man told cleveland.com on Wednesday.

The resident with the camera initially guessed someone was tormenting his family over a divorce, or possibly neighborhood kids were pulling pranks with dog feces.

Another resident, Rob Brunson, said people in the Castle Homes neighborhood had begun "playing the blame game" after the incidents kept occurring, WKYC-TV reported.

"My mother-in-law walked out of our house one day, and the kids' front yard slide had to be sanitized," he said.

Police said in some cases feces had been smeared on door handles, while in other cases it had been left inside when doors were left unlocked.