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NOPE
Medium reported severity Criminal Charges

Coffee County, Georgia: a former sheriff's deputy is indicted on stalking and license-plate-data charges, accused of using the sheriff's office Flock camera and tag-reader systems to track a woman across the county in 2024; she says the experience was terrifying and humiliating

A former Coffee County Sheriff's Office deputy was arrested on 5 May 2026 on an eight-count Coffee County grand jury indictment after a Georgia Bureau of Investigation inquiry, according to WALB and FOX 5 Atlanta. The charges include one count of prohibited use of captured license plate data and one count of stalking. Investigators allege he used the sheriff's office Flock Law Enforcement Camera System, its tag reader system and the state GCIC database for personal reasons. The indictment, as reported by WALB from court documents, alleges he obtained captured license plate data for purposes including stalking and that he followed, tracked and surveilled a woman across multiple locations in Coffee County without her consent to harass and intimidate her; several incidents are alleged between 10 April and 1 May 2024. The woman, who asked WALB not to name her, said the experience was terrifying and humiliating and that she had waited two years for the investigation. The then-sheriff asked the GBI to investigate in 2024, and the deputy was fired when the inquiry began. He was released on bond on 5 May 2026 and was due for arraignment on 27 May.

AI system
Flock Safety license plate readers
Flock Safety
Occurred
Apr 2024 to May 2024
Reported
5 May 2026
Event location
United States
What the AI did
Made a claim about the person
Reported harm
Exploitation or AbusePsychological Distress
Whose AI use
An institution’s AI use
Setting
Privacy · Justice
Evidence
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 3 sources, 1 underlying account
4 claims: 4 reported. 3 open questions
People reported harmed
1 person

AI system as recorded: Flock Safety automated license-plate-reader camera system and a tag reader system used by the Coffee County Sheriff's Office, which the former deputy is accused of using to track a woman

What Happened

WALB (5 May 2026) and FOX 5 Atlanta (11 May 2026) relay a Coffee County Sheriff's Office release: a former deputy, 49, was arrested after a multi-year GBI investigation into stalking and misuse of law-enforcement databases, which began after a woman reported allegations of stalking and other misconduct nearly two years earlier. The then-sheriff asked the GBI to investigate independently in 2024, and the deputy was terminated when the investigation began. WALB (8 May 2026), citing court documents, reports that investigators allege he used the sheriff's office Flock Law Enforcement Camera System, its tag reader system and the Georgia Crime Information Center (GCIC) database for personal rather than law-enforcement purposes. Court records state he used the Flock camera and tag reader system in a personal and unlawful manner. One count alleges he requested, used and obtained captured license plate data for purposes outside law enforcement, including stalking; the stalking count alleges he followed, tracked and surveilled a woman across multiple locations in Coffee County without her consent for the purpose of harassing and intimidating her. The indictment alleges several of the incidents happened between 10 April and 1 May 2024. The woman gave WALB written statements on condition of anonymity, describing the experience as terrifying and humiliating and saying she had waited two years for the investigation to be completed. Only the Flock and tag-reader searches are treated as the AI component; the GCIC database is not. The charges are allegations; no plea or court ruling was found.

Reported harm

A Coffee County indictment, as reported by WALB, alleges a former deputy used the sheriff's office Flock camera and tag-reader systems to obtain license-plate data and followed, tracked and surveilled a woman across the county to harass and intimidate her; the woman told WALB the experience was terrifying and humiliating. The charges are pending.

Outcome

Pending

Indicted by a Coffee County grand jury on eight counts: four counts of violation of oath by a public officer, two counts of computer invasion of privacy, one count of prohibited use of captured license plate data and one count of stalking. Arrested on 5 May 2026 on special presentment bench warrants and released on bond the same day; arraignment was scheduled for 27 May 2026 in Coffee County Superior Court (WALB). He was fired when the GBI investigation began in 2024 (Coffee County Sheriff's Office via WALB). No later outcome was found.

What remains unknown

  • How many Flock or tag-reader searches the deputy is accused of running and what they showed.
  • The woman's relationship to the deputy, if any.
  • The outcome of the criminal case after the scheduled 27 May 2026 arraignment.

What the evidence supports

AI involvement: reported. The indictment, as reported by WALB from court documents, alleges the former deputy used the Coffee County Sheriff's Office Flock Law Enforcement Camera System and tag reader system in a personal and unlawful manner and obtained captured license plate data for purposes including stalking; one count charges prohibited use of captured license plate data (WALB, FOX 5 Atlanta). The automated readers produced the plate records; the searches and their purpose are recorded as the deputy's own acts. He is also accused of using the GCIC database, which is not treated as AI. The sources do not describe the readers as AI.

4 claims: 4 reported. What the statuses mean

Reported The indictment, as reported from court documents, alleges a former Coffee County deputy obtained captured license plate data for purposes including stalking, used the sheriff's office Flock camera and tag reader system in a personal and unlawful manner, and followed, tracked and surveilled a woman across multiple locations in Coffee County without her consent to harass and intimidate her; several incidents are alleged between 10 April and 1 May 2024.

Causal attribution. Indictment allegations as reported; no plea or court ruling was found.

  • walb.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'knowingly requested, used, and obtained captured license plate data for purposes outside of law enforcement'; 'followed, tracked, and surveilled a woman across multiple locations in Coffee County without her consent'; 'The indictment alleges several of the incidents happened between April 10, 2024, and May 1, 2024.'; 'Flock camera and tag reader system'
Reported Investigators allege the former deputy used the sheriff's office Flock Law Enforcement Camera System, its tag reader system and the Georgia Crime Information Center (GCIC) database for personal reasons rather than law-enforcement purposes; he is charged with four counts of violation of oath, two counts of computer invasion of privacy, one count of prohibited use of captured license plate data and one count of stalking.

Causal attribution. Investigators' allegations and the charges as announced; the charges have not been tried.

  • walb.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'Flock Law Enforcement Camera System, Tag Reader System and the Georgia Crime Information Center (GCIC) database for personal reasons rather than legitimate law enforcement purposes.'
  • walb.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'One count of Prohibited Use of Captured License Plate Data'
  • fox5atlanta.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'one count of prohibited use of captured license plate data and one count of stalking.'
Reported The woman, speaking to WALB on condition of anonymity, said the experience was terrifying and humiliating and that she had waited two years for the investigation to be completed.

Causal attribution. The woman's own account to WALB; she attributes the experience to the deputy's conduct as a whole, which includes but is not limited to the license-plate searches.

  • walb.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'This is terrifying and humiliating'; 'after waiting two years for the investigation to be completed, I just want to move forward.'
Reported The investigation began after a woman reported stalking allegations about two years before the May 2026 arrest; the then-sheriff asked the GBI to investigate in 2024, and the deputy was fired when the investigation began. He was arrested and released on bond on 5 May 2026, with arraignment set for 27 May 2026.

Causal attribution. Sheriff's office statements and jail and court records as reported.

  • fox5atlanta.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'began after a woman reported allegations of stalking and other misconduct nearly two years ago.'
  • walb.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'Former Sheriff Doyle Wooten reportedly requested the GBI to independently investigate the public allegations in 2024.'; 'was terminated from his position when that investigation began'
  • walb.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'released on bond on May 5. He is scheduled to appear for arraignment on May 27 in Coffee County Superior Court.'

Sources

3 sources inspected, from 1 underlying account. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.

How the sources were read, and where the events happened

Read live on 2026-10-04 (WALB, 8 May 2026). Reports the indictment from court documents and carries the woman's written statements to WALB, given on condition of anonymity. Applies to s1.

Read live on 2026-10-04 (WALB, 5 May 2026). Relays the Coffee County Sheriff's Office announcement of the arrest and the charges. Applies to s2.

Read live on 2026-10-04 (FOX 5 Atlanta, 11 May 2026). States that its information came from the Coffee County Sheriff's Office press release; same chain as WALB. Applies to s3.

Event countries: United States. Affected-person countries: United States. Court countries: United States.

The stalking count alleges the woman was tracked across multiple locations in Coffee County, Georgia, and the case is in Coffee County Superior Court (WALB).

Reviewed for publication 2026-10-04: Published as a contextual case (made_claim_about) consistent with earlier officer-misuse rows for Flock license-plate readers: a Coffee County grand jury indictment, reported from court documents by WALB and confirmed in the sheriff's office release relayed by WALB and FOX 5 Atlanta, charges a former deputy with prohibited use of captured license plate data and with stalking a woman he allegedly tracked across the county. The charges are allegations. The deputy and the woman are not named.

People described

A woman in Coffee County, Georgia (not named; she asked to remain anonymous)

People reported harmed in this case

1 person

0 AI participants · 1 other person harmed

One person, the woman the stalking count alleges was followed, tracked and surveilled, who spoke to WALB anonymously (WALB, 8 May 2026). Exact 1.

Counted once within this case. The same person may appear in other cases. This count does not establish AI causation.

Tags

#flock#alpr#license-plate-reader#police-misuse#stalking#georgia#coffee-county#gbi#criminal-charges

Cite this case

Compiled per our published methodology: verification statuses, sourcing standards, and corrections process.

APA

NOPE. (2026). Coffee County, Georgia: a former sheriff's deputy is indicted on stalking and license-plate-data charges, accused of using the sheriff's office Flock camera and tag-reader systems to track a woman across the county in 2024; she says the experience was terrifying and humiliating. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2024-coffee-county-georgia-former-deputy-flock-alpr-tracked-woman-stalking-indictment

BibTeX

@misc{2024_coffee_county_georgia_former_deputy_flock_alpr_tracked_woman_stalking_indictment,
  title = {Coffee County, Georgia: a former sheriff's deputy is indicted on stalking and license-plate-data charges, accused of using the sheriff's office Flock camera and tag-reader systems to track a woman across the county in 2024; she says the experience was terrifying and humiliating},
  author = {NOPE},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {AI incidents},
  url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2024-coffee-county-georgia-former-deputy-flock-alpr-tracked-woman-stalking-indictment}
}

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