York man was held at gunpoint over incorrect Flock hit. Sheriff blames illegal tag cover
.JPG "A Flock Safety camera looks out over Sandy Forks Road in North Raleigh, June 4, 2026.")
A York County man is suing the sheriff’s office after a Flock camera falsely flagged his car as stolen, prompting police to hold him at gunpoint.
According to a lawsuit filed June 29 in York County, Steven Melvin, 42, was stopped by a York County sheriff’s deputy on Feb. 14, 2024, while pulling into his apartment complex near Lake Wylie.
The officer, York County Deputy Kyle Brogden, received an alert from a Flock license plate reader that a stolen, dark-colored BMW sedan was traveling in the area, according to the filing.
The lawsuit alleges Brodgen approached Melvin’s car, a black BMW sedan, with his gun drawn and aimed “directly at him.”
Brogden detained Melvin after ordering him to kneel on the ground with his hands over his head for over five minutes, the filing said.
After calling for backup units and reviewing Melvin’s information, he determined the vehicle was not stolen.
The Flock camera incorrectly identified the first letter of the license plate. The sheriff’s office said Melvin’s tinted license plate cover was illegal, and obscured the camera, according to the filing.
Melvin’s car had a South Carolina tag that was one letter off from the dark-colored BMW that was reported as stolen. The sheriff’s office also has said that the Flock camera hit described a similar vehicle.
Brodgen issued a verbal warning over the illegal tag cover, according to a document in the filing. Melvin removed the cover during the traffic stop.
In a complaint attached to the lawsuit, Melvin said he suffered trauma and “emotional distress” because of the traffic stop.
“To know that at any given moment my life could have been taken for simply making my way home from work to me just shows and proves some people should not be able to wear a badge,” Melvin said in the complaint.
York County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Trent Faris said the agency has not yet been served with the lawsuit, and does not comment on pending litigation.
Melvin’s lawyer, Eduardo Curry of the Charleston area, told The Herald Thursday the lawsuit’s claims speaks for themselves as to the case against the sheriff’s office.
Sheriff’s office investigation
The sheriff’s office found in November 2024 that Brogden’s actions were “reasonable” after Melvin filed an internal affairs complaint against them.
York County Capt. Lee Stoneburner concluded that the illegally tinted cover made the tag difficult to read, and caused the Flock camera to malfunction, according to documents in filed in court.
But despite officers blaming the tinted cover for the incorrect traffic stop, Flock was able to previously read Melvin’s tag.
York County Capt. Jeff Cornwell said in an email to Stoneburner that the cameras correctly identified Melvin’s plate 13 times that month prior to the traffic stop, according to the filing.
Flock says incorrect hits are rare
Flock’s automatic license plate readers are artificial intelligence enabled cameras installed on highways or intersections that read and identify license plates. Nationally, police departments and localities have contracts with the company to provide the surveillance cameras.
The cameras create a “vehicle signature” that records a car’s make, color, plate information and unique characteristics like bumper stickers or accessories.
That information is uploaded to a cloud-based platform that can be accessed by law enforcement.
The cameras flag passing license plates against law enforcement hotlists. If a passing vehicle is reported as stolen, police receive an alert.
Flock Public Relations Manager Paris Lewbel said by email for this story that Flock’s license plate readers are “highly accurate,” and incorrect reads are rare.
“We consistently advise law enforcement agencies that alerts should be treated as investigative leads, and that officers should independently verify the license plate, vehicle details, and surrounding circumstances before taking any enforcement action,” Lewbel said.
Flock said the law-enforcement agencies who contract with the company report that the cameras help solve stolen vehicle cases, according to its 2025 Impact Census. Flock also claims its technology has helped solve over one million crimes last year.
But incorrect Flock hits have led to people being wrongfully detained, or even jailed.
One out of 10 tags scanned by Flock cameras misread the state, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.
A 23-year-old San Diego man spent nearly a month in jail after a Flock camera incorrectly identified his vehicle as being involved in an attempted carjacking, the Times of San Diego reported June 7.
Several drivers across the country were repeatedly pulled over after their license plates were accidentally added to Flock lists, according to the Institute for Justice, a nonprofit law firm.
This story was originally published July 9, 2026 at 12:33 PM.
