Martin County, Florida (Wapbf) – The office of the Sheriff of Martin County arrested a man accused of using a follow -up device to stalk a woman for almost a month.
According to the likely declaration of cause, the man is accused of placing a tracking device in the woman’s car to stalk her for three weeks. The woman told the researchers that the two used to have a relationship and she had noticed that he followed her as Orlando before she suspected the device.
The MCSO arrested Grant Guidry on accusation of stalking and installing a tracking device.
WPBF 25 News has overtaken Martin County Sheriff John Budensiek to better understand how the devices are used and how they can be identified.
Budensiek said that as the technology continues to progress, he expects to see more of these tracking devices. The sheriff said they are often difficult to find, especially if the victim does not suspect that they are being followed.
“Tracking devices are not as they are in the films; they are smaller and smaller. I mean, some can be as small as something to follow a package,” said Buudensiek.
He used the Apple Airtag as an example of how small the device can be.
“Tracking devices are really in all shapes and sizes. You can disguise and hide them at different locations,” he told WPBF.
Regarding how they can identify or check them, he said, knowing what exactly he should look for or what exactly becomes more difficult as the devices become smaller and become easier to hide.
“We have seen them fall into wallets; we have seen them fall into cars. You really have to be careful with these devices. When you take your car for an oil change, it is not a bad idea to let your engineers take the car once,” he said.
If someone thinks they might be followed, he said to document it and report the issue to law enforcement.
“If you have a person with whom you have problems, and they just appear in different places where they should not know that you should be, then I would definitely have your car searched thoroughly, and if you find something, contact the office of the sheriff or what local law enforcement authorities are there. Hovty.
De Sheriff said it is important for people to know the laws when it comes to following devices because they are not as clear as one might think.
The Law of Florida states various examples of when it is legal to use a tracking device.
1. A law enforcement officer as defined in s. 943.10, or a local, national, federal or military law enforcement agency, which installs a legally installed or a tracking device or follows the application for the ownership of another as part of a criminal investigation.
2. A parent or legal guardian of a minor child who installs, places, places or uses a tracking device or a tracking application on the ownership of the minor child as:
The parents or legal guardians are lawfully married to each other and are not separated or live different apart, and either parent or legal guardian votes in the installation, placement or use of the following device or follow-up application; The parent or legal guardian is the only surviving parent or legal guardian of the minor child; The parent or legal guardian has guardianship over the minor child; Whether the parents or legal guardians are separate, separate or otherwise live apart and permission for the installation, placement or use of the following device or following the application.
3. A caregiver of an older person or disabled adult, because those conditions are defined in s. 825.101, if the treating physician of the elderly or disabled adult certifies that the installation or placement of a tracking device or following the application on the ownership of the elderly or disabled adults or the use of a tracking device or a tracking device or a handicapped person or its property is.
4. A person who acts in good faith on behalf of a business entity for a legitimate business goal. This section does not apply to a person who deals with private research, as defined in s. 493,6101, on behalf of another person, unless such activities would be exempt otherwise on the basis of this subsection if they are carried out by the person concerning the private researcher.
5. An owner or tenant of a motor vehicle that installs, places, or sends the installation, placement or use of a tracking device or follow -up application on such a vehicle during the period of property or lease, provided that:
The tracking device or the tracking application is removed before the title of the vehicle is transferred or the lease agreement of the vehicle proceeds; The new owner of the vehicle, in the case of a sale, or the landlord of the vehicle, in the case of an expired lease, agrees in writing with the non-removal of the following device or following the application; Whether the owner of the vehicle at the time of the installation or placement of the following device or following the application was the original manufacturer of the vehicle and the next owner of the vehicle was informed about the location and how to remove the device before the vehicle title is transferred. If a person has violated these exemptions, he can be accused of a crime.
Budensiek said in this most recent case that the device helped them to arrest the suspect because they had physical evidence. However, he said that stalking cases can be extremely difficult to prove.
“You almost have to have a confession of the stalker or video surveillance that shows them at weird times, show up in places that they should not be,” he said.
Budensiek said that there are public places where it becomes difficult to prove if a person actually stalks someone.
“Just happen to end up in the same place as the person you are trying to follow, is really difficult to prove that they not only accidentally bump each other together. He drove this case all the way to Orlando and happened to be where she was. We know what he was doing, but we can’t prove what he did,” he said.
He said it is important for people to document authorities where they think someone could stalk them and collect so much documentation and evidence for when they submit a report.
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