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An 18-year-old has been busted for allegedly cutting down a Flock Safety camera in California and loading the device into a vehicle.
The alleged attack came to light when a witness flagged down deputies in Temecula, Riverside County on Tuesday night.
They also gave deputies the vehicle’s license plate number, with officers then tracking it to Andrew Anderson’s house in the city.
He was arrested and booked on suspicion of grand theft and felony vandalism. The rest of the gang who were found with him were released.
The chopped-down camera was recovered and is slated to be returned to Flock.
Anderson’s arrest came just days after another Riverside County man was busted in a separate alleged attack on the controversial cameras.
Palm Desert resident Nathan Ceballos, 31, was accused of going after a Flock Safety contractor who was replacing an automatic license plate reader that had already been vandalized.
The contractor told deputies that Ceballos approached him while he was working and threatened to stab him.
Investigators said Ceballos then slashed all four tires on the contractor’s utility vehicle and damaged the replacement camera.
Ceballos was later spotted behind the wheel and pulled over by deputies, who took him into custody without incident. But the investigation got much stranger when deputies searched his home.
Authorities said they found evidence connected to the alleged assault, additional vandalism to Flock cameras and multiple sexually intrusive videos of teenage girls recorded in public and private spaces.
Investigators are still working to identify the victims shown in the videos.
Ceballos was booked into the John Benoit Detention Center on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, criminal threats and multiple counts of felony vandalism. He remains jailed.
The sheriff’s office warned would-be camera vigilantes that smashing or tampering with the devices can lead to felony charges.
“The Riverside County Sheriff’s Office encourages our communities to report suspicious activity,” the release said.
“Vandalizing or damaging Flock cameras is a serious crime and will be aggressively investigated. Those who intentionally damage, destroy, or tamper with Flock cameras will face felony charges and arrest.”
Flock’s automatic license plate readers can be mounted on police vehicles or attached to poles and portable trailers.
They photograph license plates, convert the numbers into text and record the exact location, date and time. The technology has also drawn heat across Southern California.
In Ventura County, an audit found that Flock inadvertently shared the county’s data with out-of-state law enforcement agencies, including federal agents.
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