• A fake cop arrest allegedly exposed an FHP trooper sharing confidential police data.
  • Investigators identified at least 22 alleged unauthorized disclosures between 2022 and 2025.
  • The trooper also allegedly shared information obtained through Flock cameras.

We’ve seen plenty of instances of Flock camera misuse and heard many stories of folks pretended to be police, but we’ve never seen a case where the two are allegedly connected until today. The Florida Highway Patrol just arrested one of its own for misusing confidential law-enforcement databases. What’s worse is that trooper is accused of sending this information to a fake cop, who was allegedly pulling over everyday citizens in a different state.

According to CBS12, police in Attalla, Alabama, arrested Nathan Novotny in September 2025 on suspicion of impersonating a police officer. Investigators say his vehicle was equipped with radios, radar, emergency-style lights, and sirens. Things got considerably more interesting when authorities searched his phone.

Read: Cops Are Being Told To Hide License Plate Readers From Drivers And Reports

Investigators allegedly discovered conversations between Novotny and Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Alain Fernandez. The latter evidently provided information from restricted law-enforcement databases to the former. In one instance, Novotny allegedly asked Fernandez to check an Alabama driver’s license. Fernandez reportedly searched the number through NCIC and sent him a photo of the results roughly one minute later. That discovery led investigators considerably further down the rabbit hole.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement says Fernandez accessed systems including NCIC, FCIC, and Florida’s DAVID database for purposes unrelated to legitimate police work. Some of the resulting information was allegedly sent through Snapchat and text messages, and there may have been at least one other person Fernandez was sending information to. In one particularly notable exchange, Fernandez allegedly sent information about someone whose license was about to be suspended, and he told the recipient: “You didn’t get that pic from me.” Then there’s Flock.

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Investigators say Fernandez also shared information obtained through the controversial automated license plate reader (ALPR) network. In conversations with another man, Khaled Turkustani, Fernandez allegedly sent screenshots showing a white Tesla and warned that vehicles associated with an address had been “hot listed” in Flock and other camera systems and would eventually be stopped.

Ultimately, FDLE says it found probable cause that Fernandez committed unauthorized computer system use. The agency concluded that his alleged disclosures weren’t intended to obstruct a criminal investigation, but says he knowingly accessed restricted systems beyond his authorization.

And there’s a certain irony to how investigators got there. Police arrested a man accused of pretending to be a cop, searched his phone, and allegedly discovered that a real cop had been supplying him with information only a real cop was supposed to have. It’s exactly that type of misuse that privacy advocates have in mind when they call for an end to ALPR use.

"he repeatedly pulled confidential info from LE databases and sent it to people through text messages & Snapchat including driver's license pics, addresses, and other personal information."https://t.co/k5IWaGeUJE #Flock #DeFlock #Axon #Surveillance #AxonAxoff #fyp #ALPR

— DeFlock (@therealDeFlock) September 19, 2026

Lead Photo: FHP/Snapchat