Sauk Rapids Man Charged After Flock Camera Cut Down In Downtown St. Cloud

(KNSI) – An 18-year-old Sauk Rapids man faces a felony charge after prosecutors say he sawed down an automated license plate reader in St. Cloud.

Bradley Allen Smith is charged with first-degree damage to property in a Stearns County District Court complaint filed Tuesday. The charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Officers were called June 24th to 1st North and 5th Avenue North on a report that someone had cut through the metal pole holding a license plate reader.

According to the complaint, surveillance video from a St. Cloud store captured a man buying saw blades and leaving. Investigators used a receipt from the purchase and vehicle registration records to identify Smith. Video from near the camera then showed Smith approaching the pole with what appeared to be a power tool, cutting it down, hopping a nearby fence and driving away.

The complaint says Smith later admitted to investigators that he bought the saw and cut down the camera. Repairs are estimated at $3,525. The camera has since been reinstalled.

Law enforcement agencies use automated license plate readers to photograph passing vehicles and log details including make, model, color and plate number. The systems are used in criminal investigations and during AMBER and KOPS alerts. Critics say the growing network amounts to a nationwide surveillance system.

The devices have drawn vandalism across Minnesota. At least seven cities have reported thefts or destruction, including Winona, where every camera pole in the city was cut down and taken. Winona police do not plan to replace several of the stolen units.

In the greater St. Cloud area, police in St. Cloud and Sartell say at least four cameras have been damaged.

Several communities have paused or dropped the technology altogether, among them Sherburne County, Isanti County, West St. Paul, North Branch and Columbia Heights.

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