According to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, Pinellas County Deputy Ronald Scott was arrested on a Thursday morning for alleged misuse of the Flock license plate camera database. Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said at a press conference that Scott allegedly searched for his estranged wife and her boyfriend more than 100 times, beginning on Valentine's Day of this year, while the couple were separated pending a divorce. Gualtieri said Scott made the queries to learn the locations the pair had traveled to, identify their vehicles and obtain other private information. He said the misuse was caught through a new Flock auditing tool. Gualtieri acknowledged disagreements with the State Attorney's office over interpreting the elements of the statute but said he was comfortable they could be worked through. The outlet reported that the State Attorney had earlier declined to prosecute a former deputy in a similar case.
Why it matters
The case is the second Pinellas deputy arrest tied to alleged misuse of license plate reader data, and it comes as Florida lawmakers weigh regulating the technology. Scott was arrested November 5, 2026 and charged with three counts of accessing a computer or electronic device without authority and one count of official misconduct after a Flock audit found more than 100 unauthorized searches of his estranged wife, her boyfriend, and family members between February 14 and June 19, 2026. He had resigned the day before his arrest.
Charged: Prosecutors filed criminal charges. A charge is not proof of guilt, and the person is presumed innocent unless proven guilty. Researched with AI assistance from the sources listed here and reviewed under our methodology.