EUREKA, Mo. – The increasingly popular Flock cameras are giving police a helping hand throughout St. Louis County. Most recently, they helped Eureka police remove a repeat offender off the streets.
“We can’t have police officers everywhere all the time, and so Flock fills some of those voids,” said Lt. Michael Werges, with the Eureka Police Department. “It simply allows us to solve cases that before we could not.”
On April 29, around 9:30 p.m., a 62-year-old driver hit a parked car at a busy shopping center and drove off. Thankfully, no one was hurt during the hit-and-run, but there was damage to both cars. With the help of a witness and Walmart cameras, police had a description of the car.
An hour later, the Flock cameras led them to the suspect.
“Our officers quickly searched our flock database, located a vehicle matching that description,” Werges said. “We were able to get a license plate, run that license plate to the registered owner, and positively identify that person.”
When officers arrived at the suspect’s house, he was wearing the same clothes, his car was damaged, and his blood alcohol level was well over the legal limit. He was arrested for driving under the influence and hit-and-run. Police later found out he had a long history of these crimes.
“It puts our minds at ease as shoppers and keeps everybody safe,” said Hayden Faullin, a Walmart shopper.
“I’m glad there’s new technology that is able to catch bad guys like that,” said Mason Young, a Eureka resident.
There are six police-funded cameras, with three more en route and several others purchased by neighborhoods.
“We can replace vehicles, but we can’t replace people, so in this case, I think flock made the difference of taking somebody very dangerous off the street,” Werges said.
Police expect the prosecuting attorney to press charges against the suspect soon.
