A jury has found that a hidden network of surveillance cameras in Texas helped lead to a violation of one man’s constitutional rights, raising concerns that similar monitoring could affect other motorists.

Alek Schott was traveling on Interstate 35 near San Antonio in March 2022 when a Bexar County Sheriff’s deputy pulled him over.

What began as a routine traffic stop ultimately lasted 76 minutes and, Schott argued, violated his Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable searches and seizures.

The Houston resident was placed in the front seat of the patrol vehicle and questioned by the deputy. He remained there while a drug-sniffing dog examined his truck after Schott declined to consent to a search.

The deputy initially claimed Schott had crossed the yellow shoulder line. But dashcam video showed that had not happened. In court, the officer later acknowledged that he had used the alleged traffic violation as a pretext to investigate the vehicle.

Schott complained to the sheriff’s office after the encounter. According to his lawyer, officials told him to bring a lawsuit if he believed he had been mistreated.

That lawsuit revealed why Schott had drawn the deputy’s attention. A network of surveillance cameras had recorded his one-day drive to the U.S.-Mexico border, and an unidentified law enforcement source had labeled the trip suspicious.

“Simply driving across Texas isn’t illegal,” Schott told the Daily Mail. A federal jury agreed, ruling Monday that the Bexar County deputy had violated his constitutional right to be free from an unlawful search.

“Holding the government accountable for false stops, unlawful detentions, and searches without cause is incredibly hard,” Schott told the Daily Mail.

During the lawsuit’s discovery process, Schott learned that the surveillance system had gathered unusually detailed information. The data indicated that a woman was in his vehicle when he left and identified the hotel where he later dropped her off.

Yet basic questions remain unanswered about the cameras, including who owns and operates them and who decides which activity should be classified as suspicious, said attorney Christie Hebert, who spoke to the Daily Mail.

“But we do know that there is a broader license plate reader network,” said Hebert, an Institute for Justice lawyer who represented Schott.

An officer testified that license plate readers are widespread, appearing on mile markers, tow trucks and even in residential neighborhoods.

“There’s a comprehensive network,” Hebert said. “This network would scan everyone’s plate that drives by and feed into a broader database that was being monitored, according to these officers, by people who would then say: ‘Okay, this person’s done a quick trip here. Stop them, hunt them for a traffic stop.’”

Hebert said Bexar County deputies were alerted to drivers deemed suspicious through a WhatsApp group called the Northwest Highway Group.

“They would just take whatever someone dropped in the WhatsApp chat group as truth,” the lawyer said, referring to testimony presented in court.

“They didn’t verify, they didn’t ask questions. A license plate number would be dropped in the chat, or a vehicle color and description, something as basic as that for a traffic stop.”

Deputy Joel Babb, who pulled Schott over, admitted in a pre-trial deposition that federal agencies, like Homeland Security, have ‘a lot bigger toys than a license plate reader.’ 

An artificial intelligence-powered camera had picked up Schott’s plate, according to the Institute of Justice. After that, an anonymous law enforcement agent decided his ordinary trip was suspicious. 

Babb testified he waited for Schott’s truck to appear after receiving the WhatsApp message, leading him to pull Schott over for a traffic stop. A jury decided that the deputy’s reasoning behind pulling the Houston man over was a pretext to look inside the vehicle. 

‘The beautiful thing about the Texas traffic code is there are thousands of things you can stop a vehicle for,’ the deputy said in court. 

Footage shot inside the cop car showed Babb questioning Schott about his trip and why he went there. Eventually, the deputy told Schott his anxious behavior was enough to search the car, which the latter refused. 

Babb then summoned a police dog, who alerted officers toward the driver’s side door. Deputies caused $7,000 worth of damage to the vehicle, only to not find any drugs. A police report later said there was a ‘trace’ amount of drugs in the vehicle. 

Schott went on to request the evidence, but his lawyer said the Sheriff’s Office refused to provide it, eventually telling him to sue them if he didn’t like how they did business. 

He would go on to win his case, with a jury finding his Fourth Amendment rights were violated four years later.  

Schott was awarded $76 – $1 for every minute he was wrongfully detained by police – on Monday. It is what the Houston resident asked for. 

‘A jury looked at what happened to Alek and said what Bexar County did was not okay,’ Hebert told the Daily Mail. 

‘If law enforcement is going to access this kind of broader database, there need to be warrant requirements. Officers need to satisfy the requirements to get a warrant before they can do this kind of comprehensive surveillance on an individual.’ 

Angel Reyes, a lawyer with Reyes Law and who is not associated with the case, told the Daily Mail that ‘government has always been allowed to watch public roads.’ 

‘If the Constitution stops the government from tracking you, the government can’t just pay a company to do the tracking instead and call that something different,’ Reyes said. 

‘Nobody in Texas or anywhere else should become a suspect for driving somewhere they have every right to go, least of all to officers willing to bend the rules to justify a search.

‘Alek Schott asked for $76 to make a point, and Bexar County should count itself lucky that’s all he asked for.’ 

Hebert said Schott’s case is an ‘important win for the Fourth Amendment’ and the rights of ‘all Americans.’ 

Texas Governor Greg Abbott also blocked state agencies from spending money on Flock cameras in August. 

A Texas Tribune investigation found the Lone Star State had managed to build a surveillance network through Flock, using at least $30 million in grants to local police forces. 

The state government was able to do so by charging Texans $1 extra to their car insurance policies under the pretense that it was to combat rampant catalytic converter theft, The Tribune said. The policy began in 2023. 

The Motor Vehicle Crime Prevention Authority and the Texas Department of Public Safety added thousands of cameras through these contracts, the outlet added.

‘It’s kind of the Wild West,’ Reyes told the Daily Mail. ‘These cameras just got deployed everywhere.

‘Texas went off and built a statewide tracking system.’ 

Nikolas ‘Nik’ Guggenberger, a law professor, said there is ‘ample reason for concern’ surrounding the cameras, and not only in Texas. 

‘This type of surveillance is just incredibly intrusive in the sense of what it enables law enforcement to do,’ the University of Houston Law Center professor said. 

Guggenberger said there is ‘ample opportunity for abuse’ with these cameras, which the nation has already begun to see, especially inside police forces. 

The professor said these cameras enable police to engage in fishing expeditions, an unauthorized search by officers looking for incriminating evidence without probable cause. 

Guggenberger worries that police could start looking for evidence and then use these cameras to follow citizens, analyze their behavior, and start digging into their personal lives until they find a crime. 

‘That is just something that we generally don’t really want the police to do,’ he said.

Kevin Harden, a lawyer with Harden Crichton, agreed, telling the Daily Mail: ‘All Americans should be worried about indiscriminate government surveillance.’

The legality of these cameras is being questioned in real-time.   

At the moment, cameras like Flock and police paying to have access to them are legal. However, conversations and protests have popped up across the country. 

It is also legal at the moment for officers to use the WhatsApp chats, Harden said. Police can use information they receive from the encrypted messaging service during their investigations. 

‘In other words, if it makes sense and leads the police to a reasonable conclusion that a crime has occurred or is occurring, they are allowed to follow the evidence to its likely conclusion,’ Harden said. 

However, the former prosecutors said: ‘Anonymous tipsters and messages are not enough to obtain a warrant absent other information that would lead a reasonable person to believe that a specific crime will or has occurred.’

The Daily Mail has reached out to the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office and the Department of Public Safety for comment.  

They rank among the finest apples.

Dozens of NYPD officers were honored this week with awards and applause from their fellow Finest at a Police Benevolent Association ceremony in Queens.

“We know there are people out there who think they can do our job better, who want to tell us how to do our jobs,” PBA President Patrick Hendry said Thursday during the Finest of the Finest Awards at Russo’s on the Bay in Howard Beach.

“But none of them ever had to face an individual who pulled out a gun, pointed at them, and started firing,” Hendry said. “None of them ever ran toward a burning car to rescue someone inside. None of them ever performed chest compressions on a baby who wasn’t breathing. All of you have done those things.”

Among the officers recognized for bravery was Officer Grant Pulgarin, who tackled a suspected homegrown terrorist after the man threw an improvised explosive device into a crowd during an ISIS-inspired attack outside Gracie Mansion in Manhattan’s 19th Precinct on March 17.

“This officer was policing a demonstration outside Gracie Mansion when he spotted a man who had just thrown a fuse-lit bomb,” PBA Treasurer Joe Strong said. “He ran toward the danger and stopped the terrorist with a perfectly executed tackle, one that any NFL coach would be proud of.”

Pulgarin could not comment because the case remains under active investigation. Strong said the officer restrained the suspect until he could be handcuffed, while the suspect’s accomplice was also taken into custody. Pulgarin received a plaque during the ceremony.

Officers Seoungjae Chung, Donglun Liu, Antonio Andreani and Lt. Michael Simmonds of Brooklyn’s 62nd Precinct were also honored after shooting and killing a man wielding a meat cleaver who had stabbed four children inside an 84th Street home on April 6, 2025.

According to the PBA, the officers forced their way through the door to reach the children, ages 8 to 16. All four survived their stab wounds.

“Upon arrival, these officers, hearing screams from inside the apartment, had to kick in the door to gain access,” PBA Recording Secretary George Winkler told roughly 150 people at the event. “Once inside, the perp charged the officers, who were forced to shoot and wound the suspect to put an end to the carnage.”

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The PBA also recognized NYPD Harbor Unit officers Christopher Kessinger and Steven Westgate, along with Sgt. Jose Figueroa, for rescuing sailors after a Mexican Navy vessel struck the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge in May 2025. Two crew members died in the crash.

“If it weren’t for the expert efforts of these police officers, the toll would have been much higher,” Strong said. “Under very difficult and dangerous conditions, these officers evacuated 19 victims, carried them to safety and made sure they received the medical attention they needed.”

Police Officer Joseph Wetzel received an award for rescuing a driver and passenger from a fiery crash in Wantagh, Long Island, on Feb. 4. He was off duty and on extended medical leave at the time while undergoing radiation treatment for cancer, he told The Post.

“I had breakfast with my father, and as we were walking to the car, I heard a loud crash at the major intersection across the street. I turned and saw that there was a car flipped over,” said Wetzel, 29, who received the PBA President’s Award.

Wetzel ran across the street and saw flames coming from the vehicle’s engine. A witness told him two people were trapped inside, he said.

“I always carry a knife that has an emergency tool that can break windows and cut seat belts and what not,” he said. “So I moved everyone away from the front window and started striking the window with the instrument. I finally broke it and cleared the glass with my bare hands.”

As witnesses called 911 and threw ice onto the fire, another person retrieved a fire extinguisher from a nearby gas station and put out the flames. Wetzel then pulled the driver from the vehicle, he said.

“I crawled into the car and assessed the welfare of the second person who was trapped and determined it would be safer to wait for the fire department,” Wetzel said. Firefighters later used the Jaws of Life to remove the person.

Both people trapped inside the car were taken to a hospital and survived, he said.

“Hurry up,” Wetzel said when asked what was going through his mind. “At that moment, it’s all or nothing. Just get in there, break the window, clear the glass, get the people out.”

A long-planned birthday trip for two lifelong friends turned heartbreaking when a woman was allegedly pushed down a staircase outside a South Carolina beach bar, suffering injuries that later proved fatal.

Court records from Colleton County show that bartender Mary Lopez Hunt, 68, faces charges of voluntary manslaughter and assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature.

Ruth Peterson described the devastating night to News Media on Oct. 1, 2026, two days before the anniversary of her friend’s death.

Peterson said she had stepped away to retrieve their car while her friend, 62-year-old Minnesota resident Joyce Tomlinson, went to pay their bill at Coot’s Bar & Grill on Edisto Island around 11 p.m. on Oct. 3, 2025.

When Peterson heard Tomlinson’s voice, she turned around from the bottom of the stairs and looked toward the entrance.

She said Tomlinson, whom she remembered as gentle and reserved, appeared to exchange a few words with a woman standing behind her at the top of the stairs. Peterson could not make out the conversation.

Peterson said Tomlinson had begun turning to walk back down when the other woman suddenly charged toward her and shoved her with both hands. The impact sent Tomlinson flying, Peterson recalled through tears.

“She didn’t tumble or roll down the stairs,” Peterson said. “She never touched the steps.”

Instead, Peterson said, Tomlinson fell headfirst onto a concrete landing.

Peterson immediately ran to her friend. She said she could not find a pulse and saw blood coming from Tomlinson’s mouth and ears.

“I knew it was bad,” she said.

According to court records, Hunt gave authorities a different account. She said Tomlinson had been acting belligerently and shouting at bartenders before employees asked her to leave. Hunt maintained that Tomlinson fell down the stairs.

Deputies responding to the scene found Tomlinson on the pavement at the foot of the stairs, according to a police report that has been extensively redacted.

Emergency crews airlifted Tomlinson to a hospital. She died just over three weeks after the fall.

‘Itty-bitty, tiny woman’

Peterson described Tomlinson as an “itty-bitty, tiny” woman with a quiet, mild-mannered nature. She said it was difficult to imagine Tomlinson, who worked as a legal aide helping people address financial problems, provoking a physical confrontation.

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The two women had been inseparable friends for roughly half a century, Peterson said.

They met as children in Minnesota and spent their early years roller-skating together. Later, after marrying and raising families, they watched their children grow up alongside one another. Even after life took them to different places, their friendship endured.

For years, they had talked about taking a trip to celebrate turning 60 together. But, Peterson said, other responsibilities kept postponing those plans until the getaway that ended in tragedy.

Then in 2025, Tomlinson called and said she was coming to visit in October so they could celebrate their birthdays together, Peterson remembered.

When they checked into their rented condo in Edisto Beach, South Carolina, an employee recommended Coot’s Bar & Grill, she said.

They sat at the bar and each had two drinks, Peterson said. When a solo performer began playing music, the two women stood up and danced.

Then the bar became crowded, so they decided to leave and catch up at the condo, Peterson said.

Tomlinson went to pay the bill. Peterson went for the car.

“I left the bar and walked down the steps, the same steps that we came up [to go] in. I turned around to see how far behind me she was … and that’s when I saw her standing at the top of the steps.”

Moments later, her friend was unconscious. They never spoke again.

‘Loving mom,’’trustworthy friend’

Tomlinson’s friends and family still are trying to piece together how the fight could turned violent so quickly, Peterson said.

At her funeral, friends and family remembered Tomlinson as “a loving mom” and “a trustworthy friend,” Peterson wrote in a eulogy read at the funeral. She wasn’t married but did leave behind a son.

“It’s just been very surreal,” Peterson said. “It’s very hard to believe that she’s gone and that somebody would do that to another person.”

Hunt was released on $100,000 bond for each of her charges. Later, bond was revoked and she was taken back into custody in the Colleton County Jail in Walterboro, South Carolina. It was not immediately clear why her bond was revoked.

News Media reached out to Coot’s Bar & Grill for comment. Hunt’s attorney could not be reached.

The U.S. Coast Guard said debris was discovered from a medical jet carrying six people that disappeared near Nantucket, Massachusetts, during a flight from Bermuda to Boston early Saturday.

A debris field confirmed to be from the missing aircraft was located Saturday night, according to a Coast Guard statement. Crews continued searching for the six passengers overnight, with operations expected to carry on.

The passengers included four Canadian nationals and two people from Bermuda, the Coast Guard said.

The Federal Aviation Administration lost communication with the aircraft at about 1 a.m. local time Saturday and issued a Search and Rescue Alert Notice for the Gulfstream G-100.

Coast Guard information identified the aircraft as being registered to Latitude Air Ambulance, a company based in Canada.

FlightAware tracking data showed that the jet departed at approximately 11:40 p.m. ET Friday.

“My thoughts are with everyone on board, as well as their families, loved ones and colleagues during this incredibly difficult time,” Canada’s transport minister, Steve MacKinnon, said in a statement. “We are closely monitoring the situation and are working with the relevant authorities as search and rescue efforts continue.”

Bermuda’s government said on X that officials had contacted the families of the people aboard the aircraft.

“We are praying that all six people will be found safe, and we thank the search and rescue crews for their continuing efforts,” Premier David Burt said.

The jet vanished after spending roughly one hour and 45 minutes in the air. FlightAware data indicated that it descended rapidly from approximately 24,000 feet to 11,000 feet before communications were lost. The aircraft had been scheduled to arrive at Boston Logan International Airport at around 1:30 a.m. local time.

The Coast Guard’s Northeast District said the search was focused in waters off Nantucket. The response included an HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircraft, an HC-130 Hercules, an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter, a 47-foot Motor Lifeboat and the FRC William Sparling, a Sentinel-class fast response cutter.

Over 27 hours, search teams surveyed an area covering approximately 1,644 square miles, the Coast Guard said.