Two former Missouri police officers are accused of illegally searching a woman’s cell phone during a traffic stop and obtaining intimate and explicit images on the device in separate, unrelated cases in federal court this week. was indicted for.
Julian Alcala, 29, who was employed as a Florissant police officer, has been charged in a federal investigation with 20 counts of deprivation of rights and record destruction, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri announced Thursday.
Deprivation of rights specifically refers to freedom from unreasonable search and seizure as provided in the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
During the traffic stop, Alcala took the woman’s cell phone and verified her insurance coverage and vehicle registration, according to the federal indictment. But he searched their cell phones for nude images and took photos with his own personal cell phone, according to the indictment.
Authorities allege Alcala texted the video to him and deleted evidence of the text.
The suspect is accused of performing such acts on 20 women between February 6th and May 18th.
The Florissant Police Department said in a statement Wednesday that it had no knowledge of the charges. Alcala passed a “meticulous and thorough background check” during the hiring process, and the department had not received any complaints about him in the 11 months since he was hired, the agency said.
“We are disgusted by this behavior. It is a complete betrayal of the values we stand for and is in no way reflective of the professionalism or integrity of our dedicated staff,” the ministry said in a statement. . “We recognize the gravity of this breach of trust and its impact on our community.”
Alcala resigned in June after the FBI contacted the department about an investigation against him, according to a statement from the department.
Civil lawsuits have also been filed against Alcala and the city, some of which echo federal prosecutors’ claims. The lawsuit, filed last month in the same district court, alleges Alcala sent himself private videos taken while the couple had sex.
The Jane Doe was pulled over on the side of the road in February, and Alcala took her cellphone back to her car and showed her the insurance information she had on the device, the lawsuit alleges. When the vehicle was stopped, the driver noticed that there were “deleted text messages.”
According to the complaint, Alcala sent the video to himself and deleted the messages “to cover his tracks.” He is also suspected of obtaining nude photos from her cell phone at the same stop.
Attorney Bevis Schock is representing six people in the city in civil lawsuits against Alcala. He told NBC affiliate KSDK in St. Louis that his clients were “really nice, normal people who would do what the police told them to do.”
“It all started with the FBI calling the victim,” Schock said. “And all the victims said, ‘I got pulled over, so I got my phone back.'”
A warrant was issued for Alcala on Wednesday, according to court records. It is unclear whether he is in custody. He has not appeared in court and no attorney has been appointed.
NBC News attempted to contact Alcala for comment but was unable to locate his contact information through public records. An attorney representing the city of Florissant in civil litigation in the case did not respond to requests for comment.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office filed a similar but unrelated lawsuit Tuesday against a former Missouri State Highway Patrol officer.
David McKnight, 39, was charged in the same federal court with nine counts of deprivation of rights and one count of destruction of records. Federal prosecutors allege that he illegally searched the cell phones of nine women between September 2023 and August 2024 while he was working on highway patrol.
According to U.S. prosecutors, McKnight used his own cell phone to take photos of the nude images on the women’s phones after they gave him insurance and identification devices. . Most of the women were pulled over for traffic stops, the department said.
McKnight joined the Highway Patrol in 2021, the statement said. A criminal investigation began in August, and department investigators arrested him on Aug. 21, the statement said.
The Highway Patrol announced in a statement that “McKnight resigned from the Patrol on August 26th and is no longer on our staff.”
The Missouri Department of Public Safety told NBC News that records show McKnight has surrendered his state peace officer license, “which means he can never work as a Missouri law enforcement officer again.” ” he said.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said the McKnights and Alcala cases are not related.
The public defender assigned to Mr. McKnight’s case did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday. He was taken into federal custody Thursday, and a judge set bail at $10,000, according to court records. He pleaded not guilty.
Ashley Johnson, special agent in charge of the FBI’s St. Louis Division, urged people not to hesitate to report unpleasant encounters with police. The FBI investigated both incidents, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“If you feel your civil rights have been violated, please contact the FBI,” Johnson said. “Investigating criminal activity by law enforcement officers is one of our top priorities.”
