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Medium reported severity Criminal Charges

Katy, Texas: a former police officer is indicted in Fort Bend County on felony stalking and misuse of official information, accused of using the Katy Police Department's Flock license-plate readers to track his ex-wife's location between November 2024 and April 2025 and of placing a tracking device on her vehicle; he was fired and has pleaded not guilty

A former Katy Police Department officer faces two third-degree felony indictments in Fort Bend County, Texas, for stalking and misuse of official information, according to court records reported by KPRC 2 and Houston Public Media (25 August 2026). Prosecutors accuse him of using the department's Flock license-plate-reader system to track his ex-wife's location on more than one occasion between November 2024 and April 2025, and the stalking indictment also accuses him of placing a tracking device on her vehicle; it alleges the conduct caused her to feel harassed, alarmed and tormented. The Katy Police Department says the ex-wife complained in October 2025 that she believed he was tracking her whereabouts, that its investigation found he had misused the Flock system to run her plate, and that he was suspended, fired and referred to the Fort Bend County District Attorney. He was arrested in May 2026, released on bond with conditions barring contact with her and use of tracking devices and law-enforcement databases, and has pleaded not guilty. The department says the same Flock system that was abused was used to bring the charges.

AI system
Flock Safety license plate readers
Flock Safety
Occurred
Nov 2024 to Apr 2025
Reported
25 August 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 · Relationships
Evidence
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 4 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 system used by the Katy Police Department, which the former officer is accused of searching to track his ex-wife's vehicle

What Happened

KPRC 2 (Click2Houston, 25 August 2026) reports Fort Bend County court records: two separate indictments accuse a former Katy police officer of using the Katy Police Department's Flock license-plate-reader system to track his ex-wife between November 2024 and April 2025. The stalking indictment alleges conduct on more than one occasion between 2 November 2024 and 2 April 2025, including placing a tracking device on her vehicle, and alleges the conduct caused her to feel harassed, annoyed, alarmed, abused, tormented, embarrassed or offended. The misuse-of-official-information indictment alleges he used information available to him through his employment for a non-governmental purpose, namely using Flock readers to track her location. Houston Public Media (25 August) reports the same charges from court records it obtained, says he was arrested in early May and released on $30,000 bond on condition of no contact with his ex-wife, that he has pleaded not guilty and faces up to 10 years in prison, and quotes a Katy police spokesperson that the ex-wife filed a formal complaint in October 2025 alleging he was tracking her whereabouts, after which he was suspended, then fired and criminally charged after an investigation with the Fort Bend County District Attorney's Office. ABC13 and FOX 26 (25 August) relay the Katy Police Department's release: an investigation found he had misused the Flock system to run his ex-wife's vehicle license plate, and the department said the same Flock system was used to bring the charges. The department said it audits a random sample of officers monthly and all officers with search access quarterly, and restricts searches to officers in investigative roles.

Reported harm

Prosecutors allege a former Katy police officer tracked his ex-wife's location through the department's Flock license-plate readers and a tracking device on her vehicle for about five months, causing her to feel harassed, alarmed and tormented (indictment as reported by KPRC 2); he has pleaded not guilty.

Outcome

Pending

Indicted in Fort Bend County on two third-degree felonies, stalking and misuse of official information; arrested by the Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office in May 2026 and released on $30,000 total bond with conditions barring contact with his ex-wife or her family, possession of tracking devices or firearms, and use of law-enforcement databases such as Flock; he has pleaded not guilty (KPRC 2, Houston Public Media). The Katy Police Department suspended him after the October 2025 complaint and fired him.

What remains unknown

  • How many Flock searches were made and what the location records showed.
  • Whether the ex-wife was confronted or contacted using the tracked locations.
  • The outcome of the criminal cases.

What the evidence supports

AI involvement: reported. The indictments as reported by KPRC 2 and Houston Public Media accuse the former officer of using the Katy Police Department's Flock license-plate-reader system to track his ex-wife's location, and the Katy Police Department says its investigation found he ran her vehicle's plate in the Flock system. The automated readers generated the vehicle-location records about her car; the searches are recorded as the officer's own acts. The stalking indictment also alleges a separate tracking device, which is not treated as AI.

4 claims: 4 reported. What the statuses mean

Reported Two Fort Bend County indictments accuse a former Katy police officer of using the Katy Police Department's Flock license-plate-reader system to track his ex-wife between November 2024 and April 2025; the stalking indictment also accuses him of placing a tracking device on her vehicle.

Causal attribution. Indictment allegations as reported; he has pleaded not guilty and no court has ruled.

  • click2houston.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'Flock license plate reader system to track his ex-wife between November 2024 and April 2025.'; 'placing a tracking device on his ex-wife’s vehicle.'
  • houstonpublicmedia.org(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'allegedly tracked his ex-wife'; 'location using Flock cameras and placed a tracking device on her vehicle, according to court records obtained by Houston Public Media.'
  • fox26houston.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'Court documents stated it all started on or about November 2, 2024, and continued through April 2, 2025.'
Reported The stalking indictment alleges that the conduct caused his ex-wife to feel harassed, annoyed, alarmed, abused, tormented, embarrassed or offended.

Causal attribution. Allegation in the indictment, framed in the language of the stalking statute; the ex-wife's own account was not reported.

  • click2houston.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'Prosecutors allege the conduct caused his ex-wife to feel harassed, annoyed, alarmed, abused, tormented, embarrassed or offended.'
Reported According to the Katy Police Department, his ex-wife complained in October 2025 that she believed he was tracking her whereabouts, and its investigation found he had misused the Flock system to run her vehicle's license plate; he was suspended, fired and referred to the Fort Bend County District Attorney.

Causal attribution. Department statements as relayed by the outlets.

  • houstonpublicmedia.org(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'first filed a formal complaint against him in October, alleging he was tracking her whereabouts.'; 'he was fired from the department and criminally charged after an investigation with the Fort Bend County District Attorney'
  • abc13.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'had misused the Flock system to run his ex-wife'; 'Ironically, the Flock camera system that was abused is the same system that was used to bring formal charges against the officer.'
  • click2houston.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'contacted the department in October 2025 and reported that she believed he was somehow tracking her whereabouts.'
Reported He is charged with two third-degree felonies, stalking and misuse of official information; he was arrested in May 2026, released on bond with conditions barring contact with his ex-wife and use of law-enforcement databases such as Flock, and has pleaded not guilty.

Causal attribution. Court records as reported; the defendant denies the charges.

  • click2houston.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'is charged with stalking and misuse of official information, both third-degree felonies, according to Fort Bend County court records.'; 'from using law enforcement databases such as Flock license plate readers.'
  • houstonpublicmedia.org(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'has since pleaded not guilty.'; 'was released on a $30,000 bond by the end of the month under the condition he would have no contact with his ex-wife.'

Sources

4 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 2026-10-03 (KPRC 2/Click2Houston, 25 August 2026, updated 30 September 2026). Reports the two indictments and bond conditions from Fort Bend County court records, plus Katy police statements. Applies to s1.

Read live on 2026-10-03 (Houston Public Media, 25 August 2026). Reports court records it obtained and a Katy police spokesperson's statement; treated as the same chain as KPRC 2 because both rest on the same court records and department statements. Applies to s2.

Read live on 2026-10-03 (ABC13 Houston, 25 August 2026). Relays the Katy Police Department release in full. Applies to s3.

Read live on 2026-10-03 (FOX 26 Houston, 25 August 2026). Relays the Katy Police Department release and court documents. Applies to s4.

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

The Katy Police Department's Flock system is in Katy, Texas, and the charges are in Fort Bend County court records (KPRC 2, Houston Public Media). The ex-wife's place of residence is not stated beyond the complaint to the Katy Police Department.

Reviewed for publication 2026-10-03: Published as a contextual case (made_claim_about) consistent with earlier officer-misuse rows for Flock license-plate readers: two Fort Bend County indictments, reported from court records by KPRC 2 and Houston Public Media and confirmed by the Katy Police Department's release, accuse a former officer of tracking his ex-wife through the department's Flock readers and a tracking device. The charges are allegations and he has pleaded not guilty. The officer and his ex-wife are not named.

People described

The former officer's ex-wife, a Texas resident (not named)

People reported harmed in this case

1 person

0 AI participants · 1 other person harmed

One person, the former officer's ex-wife, named in the indictments as the person tracked (KPRC 2, Houston Public Media). 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#texas#katy#fort-bend-county#criminal-charges

Cite this case

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

APA

NOPE. (2026). Katy, Texas: a former police officer is indicted in Fort Bend County on felony stalking and misuse of official information, accused of using the Katy Police Department's Flock license-plate readers to track his ex-wife's location between November 2024 and April 2025 and of placing a tracking device on her vehicle; he was fired and has pleaded not guilty. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2024-katy-texas-former-police-officer-flock-alpr-tracked-ex-wife-stalking-indictment

BibTeX

@misc{2024_katy_texas_former_police_officer_flock_alpr_tracked_ex_wife_stalking_indictment,
  title = {Katy, Texas: a former police officer is indicted in Fort Bend County on felony stalking and misuse of official information, accused of using the Katy Police Department's Flock license-plate readers to track his ex-wife's location between November 2024 and April 2025 and of placing a tracking device on her vehicle; he was fired and has pleaded not guilty},
  author = {NOPE},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {AI incidents},
  url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2024-katy-texas-former-police-officer-flock-alpr-tracked-ex-wife-stalking-indictment}
}

Related cases

Medium Flock Safety license plate readers

Kechi, Kansas: a police lieutenant used the Wichita Police Department's Flock license-plate-reader system to monitor his estranged wife's location; arrested in October 2022, he pleaded guilty to computer crime and stalking in April 2023

According to the Sedgwick County District Attorney, a lieutenant of the Kechi Police Department in Kansas took advantage of his position to use the Flock License Plate Reader system to monitor his estranged wife's location. The woman had told a friend that she was scared and thought he was somehow tracking her whereabouts, and the friend asked a Wichita police officer how someone could get a protection-from-stalking order. Wichita police arrested the lieutenant on 26 October 2022 and he was removed from the Kechi department. On 5 April 2023 he pleaded guilty to computer crime and stalking, both misdemeanors, and was sentenced to a controlling term of 24 months in jail, with probation granted for 18 months. The Wichita Police Department, whose Flock system he had used, revoked the whole Kechi department's access and said it would audit the system weekly, and the Kansas Commission on Peace Officers' Standards revoked his certification in August 2023.

Medium Flock Safety license plate readers

Fort Bend County, Texas: internal-affairs documents show a sheriff's office lieutenant looked up one license plate 41 times and another 148 times in Flock license-plate cameras from January 2022 to December 2025 for no official purpose; the investigation followed a resident's complaint of being stalked, and the lieutenant was suspended for two days (ABC13)

According to Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office internal-affairs documents obtained by ABC13 Houston (17 July 2026), a sheriff's office lieutenant used the office's Flock license-plate cameras to look up one license plate 41 times and another 148 times between January 2022 and December 2025, and admitted that the searches were not related to official law-enforcement work. The investigation began when a resident filed a complaint alleging that the lieutenant was stalking them and that they were in fear for their family's safety. The lieutenant said they were concerned that the two drivers were lurking near the lieutenant's home and family, and the documents describe at least one of the drivers' relationship as a very contentious familial relationship with the known vehicle owner. Internal affairs found that the lieutenant violated the office's general orders and suspended the lieutenant for two days. The lieutenant told investigators that the information was not used or shared. No criminal charges have been reported, and neither the lieutenant nor the resident is named.

Medium Flock Safety license plate readers

New Bedford, Massachusetts: a police officer is under internal investigation after a Flock audit raised concerns about unauthorized use and a personal connection to a searched plate; the officer's ex-girlfriend, who says she was harassed after their break-up and that police told her that her plate had been searched a concerning number of times, had an abuse prevention order extended for six months on 13 August 2026; the officer says the searches were for a drug investigation, and the department paused its Flock cameras

The New Bedford Police Department in Massachusetts placed an officer on administrative leave in August 2026 after an audit of its Flock license-plate-reader system, begun on 31 July, flagged activity that raised concerns about unauthorized use and found a personal connection between the officer and a person associated with a license plate that had been searched. The officer's former girlfriend, who ended their relationship in early April 2026, says in an affidavit reported by Boston.com that she then received endless calls and messages and that the officer showed up at her home unannounced, once while on duty in a cruiser. WJAR reports that she alleged the department had told her that her plate had been searched in its Flock database a concerning number of times, and NBC Boston reports her testimony that police told her the officer was tracking her vehicle and that this made her feel she was being followed. On 13 August New Bedford District Court extended an abuse prevention order against the officer for six months. The officer testified that the searches were for a legitimate drug investigation involving another driver of the car. The department suspended its use of Flock on 11 August while it reviews the system; its internal investigation is open and no criminal charge has been reported.

Low Flock Safety license plate readers

Stow, Massachusetts: a police detective resigned amid termination proceedings after an internal-affairs investigation found that the officer ran vehicle searches through Flock license-plate readers and state criminal-justice systems with no law-enforcement reason to get information about a Worcester County resident known to the officer; the department sought criminal charges and ended its Flock contract

The Stow Police Department in Massachusetts placed an officer, a detective and acting sergeant, on administrative leave on 18 June 2026, within three hours of a complaint from a Worcester County resident who was known to the officer. According to the department, an internal-affairs investigation found that the officer tried to obtain personal information about the resident several times in 2024 and 2025, ran vehicle information through Flock Safety's license-plate-reader system and the state Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) system on multiple dates with no legitimate law-enforcement reason, and accessed criminal offender record information at least five times. The Sentinel and Enterprise reports that the resident has been reported to be a former girlfriend. After a criminal investigation into the CJIS queries, the department filed a criminal complaint on 17 July seeking charges and referred the matter to the Middlesex District Attorney, sent its report to the state Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission, and ended its relationship with Flock Safety, removing its last camera in early August. The officer, on unpaid leave from 31 July, later resigned amid termination proceedings. No charging decision has been reported.

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