· Trigger
Former officer charged over alleged personal Flock searches
Potter County prosecutors (reported as the County Attorney's Office in one NewsChannel 10 report and the District Attorney's Office in another) accept a criminal complaint against the former officer for tampering with a government record, a Class A misdemeanor. The complaint alleges he ran one man's license plate through the Flock system 76 times between February and June 2026 and searched the man's name twice in another investigative database. He turned himself in on September 1 and was released on bond; court records list 78 counts.[1][2][3][4]
What the sources say
- ✓ Verified
The former officer faces 78 counts of tampering with a government record, each a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to a $4,000 fine and up to one year in jail. The complaint alleges 76 Flock searches of one man's license plate between February 25 and June 13, 2026 and two TLOxp searches of the man's name on April 22. Court records list 3 counts in February, 41 in April, 20 in May and 14 in June. He turned himself in on September 1 and was released on a $4,500 bond per charge. The case is pending. [1][2][3][4]
- Counts
- 78
- Flock searches
- 76
- Tloxp searches
- 2
- Max fine per count
- $4,000
- Bond per count
- $4,500
- ⚠ Sources differ
NewsChannel10 reports name different Potter County prosecuting offices as accepting the complaint on August 31.
- ✓ Verified
Thomas Hover, Police Chief: Chief Thomas Hover said he was "deeply frustrated and disappointed" by the former officer's use of his access to criminal justice information for personal reasons, and said he had added safeguards including "increased supervisory review of officer searches, expanded auditing capabilities." [1]
- ✓ Verified
NewsChannel10 reported that the Amarillo case is listed in an Institute for Justice database of reported ALPR misuse in Texas and that Amarillo was the only city in the Texas Panhandle and West Texas region with an open Flock misuse case. [5]