Jevon Martinez apparently had a destination in mind for the Flock cameras piled into the back of his pickup truck.
The 44-year-old Rio Rancho man posted videos Wednesday showing him driving around the Albuquerque area and appearing to remove automated license plate readers. His explanation was straightforward: the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office was getting out of the Flock business, and he said he was bringing the equipment back.
“Just for the record, I am not stealing these. I am not destroying them,” Martinez said in video reported by KOB 4. “I am simply returning them to the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Department.”
He made it to the sheriff’s headquarters with multiple cameras and other equipment in the truck. Deputies took him into custody.
Return To Sender
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Martinez had been recording the trip on social media. In one video, he questioned whether taking down the cameras was a crime and described what he was doing as liberating people from “tyranny.”
The timing supplied at least part of his stated rationale.
Bernalillo County Sheriff John Allen had announced days earlier that his office was ending its three contracts with Flock Safety. The sheriff told the Albuquerque Journal, in reporting republished by KUNM, that he had lost confidence in the company over safeguards surrounding data.
BCSO had 21 Flock cameras under its contracts. Allen said the contracts were being taken off the table as the department looked for another company.
That did not make Martinez the sheriff’s camera-removal crew.
According to a criminal complaint described by the Rio Rancho Observer, he was pulled over on Roma Avenue on Sept. 2 with several Flock cameras and other equipment in the back of his truck.
He Said He Would
Wednesday was not Martinez’s first encounter with Flock equipment or police.
Rio Rancho police accused him earlier this year of destroying three Flock cameras and removing solar panels. Flags were placed on the poles, and one location carried a message reading, “You’re welcome, the Republic of New Mexico.”
Police said Martinez recorded his work. When officers questioned him after finding flags in his vehicle similar to those left at the camera locations, they said he admitted damaging the equipment and showed them videos on his phone.
The earlier case produced nine felony charges, including larceny, criminal damage to property, and tampering with evidence. Police estimated the damage at more than $20,000.
A judge eventually released Martinez on his own recognizance with pretrial supervision.
Then came a July court appearance.
When Martinez was asked whether he intended to continue taking down the cameras, KRQE reported that his answer was “Absolutely.”
He called the cameras “a clear and present threat to public safety.”
Martinez is scheduled to return to court Sept. 22 in the earlier Rio Rancho case.