An Altamonte Springs man used a power drill to dismantle 22 license plate readers from Seminole County and Casselberry, destroyed some solar panels used to power the systems and threw the equipment into brush, ditches and retention ponds, officers said.
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Eric Fiedler, 35, appeared before a judge Monday and faced numerous felony charges, including vandalism, grand theft and burglary.
Officers said on May 6 they noticed one of their cameras was missing while on patrol in Longwood. They said it appeared to have been ripped off its pole, as did other cameras in the area when they went to check on them.
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Officers said security cameras and a witness helped lead them to Fiedler, who was seen from the agency’s helicopter taking apart multiple cameras prior to his June 1 arrest.
A few days prior to the discovery of the first vandalism, WFTV interviewed Fiedler about the license plate readers that suddenly appeared on major roads in the county.
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Fiedler, along with others posting on social media about the readers, took issue with the sheriff’s office’s lack of notification and lack of transparency about their program. The sheriff’s office has declined to disclose how many readers they have installed in the county.
“I’m not a criminal, but it’s interesting when something pops up in your neighborhood that you don’t know about,” Fiedler said on May 2. “When you realize that you’re being followed every day as you go to the grocery store or to church or to school, and you had no say in it, it worries me a little bit.”
He acknowledged that the cameras were installed in public places where there is no expectation of privacy, but pointed out to readers a potential stepping stone to more invasive law enforcement techniques.
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Seminole County and the readers’ manufacturer, Flock, champion them as an effective law enforcement tool. Flock said only law enforcement has access to the data and it is deleted after 30 days.
Deputies said the readers have helped them solve homicides, property crimes and missing persons cases. Each camera will cost $4,300 to replace, and there is no estimate when the work will be done, reports said.
WFTV has contacted Fiedler for comment.
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