A Bellevue resident says Google trespassed by capturing images of his home on a private road.

A Bellevue man believes Google may be violating his privacy with pictures of his home on its "Street View" tool.

Emil Kraft lives in a home set back from the main road – a tenth of a mile, according to his measure.

“That’s part of the beauty of Bellevue, and other areas like this – being able to have privacy,” Kraft said.

His street – 173rd Ave SE – is marked with a “private road” sign, which is why he was frustrated to open Google Maps one day, and find 360-degree images from in front of his home on the Street View tool.

“It’s disconcerting, that’s the whole issue,” he said.

Kraft’s home is shrouded in trees when viewed from the main road, 60th. But the Street View car must have approached his home on 173rd to capture such clear images, Kraft said.

“As soon as it left 60th, it was on private property,” he said. “It drove all the way up a tenth of a mile from the end, and took pictures of a neighbor’s house from 10 feet away.”

“There are laws against what Google did,” he said. “Bread and butter laws like trespassing.”

He filed a report with Bellevue Police, who are now looking into the matter.

A spokesperson for the department confirmed the report was filed, and noted it’s a complex situation.

The spokesperson said there may be a legal distinction between a private road with multiple homes and private drive, and officers will do a site visit to help make that determination, and how to proceed.

Kraft’s street is marked ‘private road.’ Several homes have access off 173rd.

But, if a crime did occur, Kraft believes the implications could be widespread.

“This is not an isolated incident,” he said. “It’s something that’s happening on a very large scale. Just from a basic analysis.”

So he’s asking for an investigation, and to have the images of his home removed.

“When a corporation that should not be committing crimes like this commits a crime and then profits from it by exposing private imagery shot from my property to the entire world, anyone that has an internet connection – that’s a problem,” he said.

Kraft said though Google has an appeal process to blur homes, he has not contacted them directly, and believes he should not have that burden.