RENO, Nev. (AP) — Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve is suing a private investigator and his company after she found a device on her vehicle capable of tracking real-time location.
The lawsuit, first reported by The Nevada Independent on Thursday, alleges that the researcher entered her property to install the device without her permission. It says Schieve was unaware until a mechanic noticed it while working on her vehicle.
The complaint goes on to say that the investigator was working on behalf of an “unidentified third party” whose identity she has been unable to ascertain.
“Tracking and guarding Schieve, as any reasonable person would, caused her considerable anguish and distress,” it read.
There was no immediate response to a request for comment emailed Friday by The Associated Press to David McNeely, the investigator who allegedly placed the tracking device, and 5 Alpha Industries, the company.
Schieve, who filed the lawsuit as a private citizen in Washoe County’s Second Judicial Court, was elected last month to her third term as mayor, a position she has held since 2014. negligence, as well as attorney’s fees. She also wants to know who hired the investigator.
The mayor said in an interview with The Nevada Independent that the mechanic found the tracking device about two weeks before the vote. She took it to the police in neighboring Sparks, and they were able to determine that it had been purchased by McNeely.
“I am now publicly announcing this and have not made any public statements at the time it was discovered, to make it clear that it is about one thing, and one thing only: it is not ok to stalk people,” Schieve said. in a statement to AP.
A spokesperson for the mayor said Schieve went to the Sparks department instead of the Reno Police Department to “evade questions about conflicts of interest.”
The complaint also alleges, without providing additional evidence, that the company has “installed similar tracking devices on other vehicles belonging to several other prominent members of the community.”
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Stern serves on the Corps for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a non-profit national service program that places journalists on local newsrooms. Follow Stern on Twitter: @gabestern326.
