Overview
- A federal jury on Monday found Bexar County liable for violating Alek Schott’s Fourth Amendment rights and awarded him $76, one dollar for each minute he was detained.
- Schott’s March 2022 stop began with a deputy’s claim of lane drifting that dashcam footage contradicted, officers questioned him at length, a drug‑sniffing dog ‘alerted,’ and no contraband was found.
- Trial discovery and reporting showed deputies acted on automated license‑plate reader alerts and an anonymous WhatsApp stream called the Northwest Highway Group that routed tips to the interdiction team.
- The Institute for Justice said it will ask a judge for an injunction to halt the sheriff’s stop‑and‑search practices and to recover legal fees, while Bexar County has said it will pursue an appeal.
- Documents show the interdiction unit often used minor lane‑violation pretexts, reported low arrest yields despite many stops, and raise broader questions about how fusion‑center data and AI‑linked surveillance steer routine traffic enforcement.