La Crosse man suspected of peeping at female neighbor and stealing her underwear

A 30-year-old La Crosse man has been charged with drilling holes in his neighbor’s walls to spy on her and stealing nearly $100 worth of her underwear.

Robert Kautzmann was charged Wednesday with felony burglary as well as misdemeanor counts of invasion of privacy and property damage. He’s been released from jail on a signature bond, and has a hearing on June 30th. 

According to a criminal complaint, a woman told police that Kautzman entered her home on May 27 without permission and walked up the stairs.

He left after she confronted him. The woman then discovered a cellphone that appeared to be recording audio as well as a hole in the hallway near the bedroom. She reviewed the audio and video from the phone and determined the device belonged to Kautzman.

She also told police that Kautzman likely stole $80 worth of her underwear during a previous break-in.

According to the complaint, Kautzman told police he drilled holes in the woman’s wall and stole her underwear. He said he drilled the holes because he didn’t have heat in his apartment but later used them to spy on the woman and another person who lives there. He said he used an industrial borescope, a device used to visually inspect hard-to-reach places, to record his neighbors.

He told police he was “mentally weird” and “sometimes does things that are crazy.”