A Florida deputy used law enforcement databases and an automated license plate reader system to track a woman he had met while working security on the set of the Apple TV+ show Bad Monkey, according to court records and police cruiser footage obtained by 404 Media.
The records say Monroe County deputy Lamar Roman later drove at least 70 mph on a two-lane highway in the Florida Keys, passed vehicles in a no-passing zone and nearly caused a head-on crash while trying to catch up with the woman’s SUV. He then activated his lights and siren and pulled her over, despite investigators saying she was not suspected of a crime.
Local news outlets reported that Roman was arrested in March. The police materials described by 404 Media lay out a familiar failure mode for modern police surveillance: one officer used several official systems, including a DMV database and an automated plate reader network, for a personal pursuit.
From set encounter to database searches
According to affidavits, arrest warrants and interview summaries cited by 404 Media, Roman met the woman in early February while working an off-duty security detail on Bad Monkey. The woman told investigators Roman whistled at her and made comments as she arrived on a bus for extras. She said she was uncomfortable and was unsure whether he was an actual officer or an actor playing one.
The warrant says the woman told Roman she had a boyfriend. According to the records, Roman asked for her name and number in case he pulled her over someday and pressured her for her Instagram handle. The woman told investigators she tried to act standoffish so he would stop. Other extras eventually pulled her away, according to the records.
After leaving the set, Roman searched for the woman in the Master Name Index, a police database, according to the court records. He then used her driver’s license number to search DAVID, the Florida Department of Motor Vehicles database available to law enforcement. Records say he searched variations of her name and accessed details including her vehicle information and current photo, marking the purpose as a background investigation.
Roman told investigators he knew using DAVID that way was illegal, according to the records quoted by 404 Media. He also searched her and her plate through the Florida Crime Information Center and National Crime Information Center, which returned additional vehicle and personal information from state motor vehicle records.
How the plate reader tracking worked
Investigators say Roman then entered the woman’s plate into Guardian, an automated license plate reader system. Systems like Guardian scan passing vehicles and compare plate numbers against lists created by law enforcement. A “hotlist” entry can trigger a real-time alert when a camera sees a listed vehicle.
Those tools are generally pitched for cases such as stolen cars or vehicles connected to criminal investigations. In this case, Roman told investigators there was no legal reason to put the woman’s tag into the plate reader system and that she was not suspected of anything, according to the records.
After receiving a location alert, Roman drove toward her on a stretch of road where the speed limit was 55 mph, according to police records. Cruiser footage described by 404 Media shows him passing multiple vehicles, including over a double-yellow line. A police report says a northbound white truck had to leave the roadway to avoid a collision.
The records say Roman did not have a body camera on, his vehicle did not record audio of the stop, and he did not log the stop in the department’s traffic-stop system. The woman told investigators that when Roman approached, she asked how he knew it was her. According to the police report, she said Roman replied that he had told her he would find her and pull her over.
The woman also told investigators Roman asked why she had not followed him back on Instagram. She said she told him she needed to leave and would follow him later because she wanted him to leave her alone.
An investigator later told the woman Roman had used law enforcement databases and the license plate reader system to obtain her personal information and track her vehicle, according to the records. The woman was unaware of that surveillance until investigators explained it.
This story draws on original reporting from 404 Media.
