'I Saw a Shiny Thing': Cop Explains Why He Used License Plate Reader to Stalk Woman - https://www.404media.co/i-saw-a-shiny-thing-cop-explains-why-he-used-licen

'I Saw a Shiny Thing': Cop Explains Why He Used License Plate Reader to Stalk Woman - https://www.404media.co/i-saw-a-shiny-thing-cop-explains-why-he-used-license-plate-reader-to-stalk-woman/ https://www.404media.co/i-saw-a-shiny-thing-cop-explains-why... - August 19th, 2026 > Body camera footage shows police surveillance abuse is common: "We’ve told them over and over again: 'You see a hot chick, you don’t look them up in a database.'" > “The most concerning part to me, listen, we’ve had deputies misuse databases, we’ve told them over and over again, ‘That’s not what it’s for. You see a hot chick, you don’t look them up in a database. That’s not what it’s for,’” she says. “The more concerning part to me is we have what’s called license plate readers, LPR system, which is the camera’s positioned up and down the highway, and we use that for law enforcement. We have one highway, so if we’re looking for somebody, it makes it very easy to locate their vehicle. He put your tag in that, so he would be alerted when your vehicle was going one way or another.” > 404 Media also obtained footage from when Roman was arrested several days later at his home. The footage shows that Roman was allowed to make several phone calls before being arrested as he loiters on the sidewalk. Eventually, he is handcuffed and put in the back of a police SUV. Moeller tells him “Roman, I’m sorry man, it is what it is, we’re here now. But remember what I said. It’s a speed bump, OK? In the scheme of things, you’ll get past this bro. Alright, I wish you the best of luck. Keep your head up man.” > Roman was eventually charged with counts of stalking and improperly accessing government databases. He avoided jail time as part of a plea deal. As part of his deal, Roman will have to stay out of trouble for two years and have no contact with the woman. He’ll pay ~$1,700 to cover investigative and prosecutorial costs and will have to perform 100 hours of community service and continue psychotherapy. https://www.local10.com/news/local/2026/08/11/ex-keys-deputy-who-illegally-tracked-woman-he-met-on-set-of-bad-monkey-avoids-jail-court-docs/ https://www.local10.com/news/local/2026/08/11/ex-keys-deputy...