Evansville Police have made an arrest in their investigation into damaged and stolen Flock cameras across the city. Charles Hughes, 18, was booked into the Vanderburgh County Jail on Monday morning on charges of theft and criminal mischief.
The arrest follows reports in September that police were looking into more than a dozen cases in which the cameras were destroyed or taken.
According to an affidavit, officers spotted a man, later identified as Hughes, riding an e-scooter just before 5 a.m. Monday. He was heading south on Governor Street at Columbia Street without a headlight, and he did not stop for the stoplight at the intersection of Governor Street and Virginia Street. Officials say he was wearing a mask and carrying two bags.
Police say the department had earlier circulated emails to all officers about a man on a scooter who had recently been stealing or damaging Flock cameras. When officers stopped the scooter, they noticed a collapsible ladder and a large solar panel on it. A "Flock" sticker was visible on the panel.
Hughes told officers he had pulled the panel out of a dumpster somewhere on Governor Street. A search of his person turned up various hand tools.
At EPD headquarters, officers determined that the e-scooter matched the appearance and style of the one used in the September camera damage. Inside Hughes' backpack, they reported finding multiple Flock camera components, including batteries, junction boxes, cameras and wires. He also had dozens of hand tools, a radio transmitter, a battery-powered Sawzall and a screw gun.
Investigators also said one of the Flock camera faceplates fit "perfectly" with a pole that had been recovered from Diamond and Fulton Avenue. The assigned cost to replace a single Flock camera is $4,800.
Hughes was taken to the Vanderburgh County Jail and booked on charges of theft, criminal mischief and disregarding a traffic signal. Police describe the matter as an ongoing investigation.
