By admin 
The York County Sheriff’s Office wants a lawsuit dismissed over a false Flock hit where a deputy held a man at gunpoint on his knees for five minutes in Lake Wylie, court documents show.
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The Herald exclusively reported in early July that Steven Melvin, an Iraq War veteran, filed the lawsuit in York County civil court against the sheriff’s office and three responding deputies. Internal sheriff’s office documents in the case show that deputies said Melvin’s license plate had an illegal cover and was incorrectly read by a Flock camera in 2024 as law enforcement was searching for a similar stolen car with a similar plate.
Melvin “feared for his life and reasonably believed he could be shot,” the lawsuit states.
The incident happened near the Charlotte border.
Melvin is suing over civil rights violations for excessive force, as well as false imprisonment and negligence. The lawsuit in which Melvin wants punitive damages claims he was subjected to “humiliation, fear, emotional trauma and unlawful detention.”
Sheriff: No unreasonable use of force
The sheriff’s office moved the case to federal court in South Carolina, denied the claims and asked a U.S. District Court judge to dismiss the case. The sheriff’s office said in its filing that the “actions or omissions did not result in an objectively unreasonable seizure or use of force.”
The sheriff’s office said no rights were violated. Melvin was released after the mistaken license plate was discovered, and he was issued a warning, not a citation, for the alleged illegal license plate cover.
“A mistake of fact leading to a seizure under the Fourth Amendment does not amount to a Constitutional violation,” wrote lawyers David Holler and Ross Campbell, who are representing the sheriff’s office and deputies.
The Herald reached out to lawyers for Melvin and the sheriff’s office but none have responded as of 2 p.m. Monday..
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Moving the case to federal court means a statewide jury pool could hear the civil case, rather than jurors from only York County.
No trial date has been set in federal court.
Flock controversy increased since The Herald’s story
After a July story by The Herald and Charlotte Observer about the lawsuit over the alleged inaccurate Flock hit, York County Sheriff Tony Breeden posted a video about Flock cameras, claiming the license plate readers are an important crime fighting tool. He also vowed to be transparent about their usage. The video had more than 12,000 comments on the sheriff Facebook page.
Flock manufactures automatic license plate readers, which use artificial intelligence to collect vehicle data and license plates. The Atlanta-based company has partnered with over 5,000 law enforcement agencies across the U.S. The American Civil Liberties Union estimates there as many as 120,000 Flock license plate reader cameras in the country.
Online groups in York County and Chester County have created petitions with thousands of signatures seeking to stop use of the cameras over freedom and civil liberties concerns.
Last month, two Rock Hill teens were arrested for damaging Flock cameras in York County and Chester County. A third teen faces Chester charges for camera damage. Charges remain pending.
The anti-surveillance camera movement has picked up momentum in South Carolina and nationally since then. The Charlotte Observer has reported police officers have been fired and charged criminally for misusing the cameras and the issue has become a political flashpoint in the November elections.
Oconee County Council in South Carolina passed a first reading of a measure in August that would ban Flock cameras there as many in the public push back against mass surveillance, The State reported.
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