Woman sues Flock, officer after cameras used in alleged mistaken theft charge
A Colorado woman has filed a federal lawsuit against an officer, Flock Safety and others after she was allegedly mistakenly hit with a criminal summons last year.
In her lawsuit, Chrisanna Elser alleges that an officer used a Flock camera to track her and connect her to a $25 package theft from the porch of a home in Bow Mar.
Elser filed the suit on Monday, accusing Flock Safety, the Towns of Columbine Valley and Bow Mar, Columbine Valley Police Department Sgt. Jamie Milliman and Police Chief Bret Cottrell of negligence, invasion of privacy, unlawful search and other violations for the criminal summons that was ultimately voided after she produced evidence she says shows she was not the suspect, according to the suit.
"The scariest part is what happened to me can happen to anyone," Elser said in a statement.
On Sept. 27, 2025, Milliman visited Elser's home and issued her a criminal summons that accused her of stealing the package.
In footage from Milliman's body camera and Elser's door camera, Elser is seen shocked as Milliman tells her that she is the person who stole the package.
The sergeant said he had evidence showing her Rivian truck, which he claimed was connected to the theft, was seen driving through Bow Mar during the time of the incident. He said he used cameras to track her vehicle for a month, according to the video footage from the incident.
He said he used cameras to track her vehicle for a month, according to the video footage from the incident.
"We have cameras throughout the town you can't take a breath of fresh air in or out without us knowing," Milliman said during the encounter on Elser's porch as her husband looked on from inside the home, according to footage of the incident.
"I have you on camera, you, taking a package," he added, the footage showed.
Elser denied knowing anything about the theft and she asked for the footage, but Milliman repeatedly denied it.
"If you're just going to deny it, I'm not going to extend it any courtesy. If you’re going to lie to me, I'm not going to extend it any courtesy," he said.
"I wouldn't come here if I weren't 100% sure," Milliman later added.
Elser, a financial planning quality assurance specialist, said she and her husband had driven through Bow Mar, but reiterated that she was not at the address of the theft and was not the suspect.
She offered to share cameras from the truck along with data from her phone, but Milliman refused and left after he handed her the summons, which included printed screenshots of her truck from a Flock camera, the footage showed.
Elser said she was later able to determine that she was at a tailor getting fitted for a gown at the time of the theft.
She provided vehicle camera footage from her trip as well as her own phone's location data to the police that showed she wasn't at the home where the theft occurred, according to the suit.
Door camera footage was also posted publicly on Nextdoor, according to the suit, which says the woman in the video does not resemble Elser and fled on foot.
On Oct. 15, 2025, the summons was voided, but the police did not answer Elser's numerous requests to see the video evidence that Milliman claimed to have had, the suit said. It is not clear if anyone else was charged or arrested in the package theft.
Elser claimed in the suit that her employer nearly placed her on administrative leave after she was hit with the summons.
The lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages, accused Milliman of violating Elser's constitutional rights and of accessing Flock's database without a warrant.
The suit said that on Nov. 11, 2025, the Town Administrator for Columbine Valley issued a statement asserting Milliman "had a reasonable belief in issuing the summons, and that exculpatory evidence was not submitted to the department for review until approximately two weeks later."
The administrator also said in the statement that the town decided that disciplinary action would be applied, according to the lawsuit.
Police Chief Bret Cottrell wrote a letter that same day to the sergeant admonishing his actions, according to the suit.
"The letter faulted Defendant Milliman for rude behavior, a dismissive attitude, and an unwillingness to de-escalate. It stated that such behavior undermines public trust, harms team morale, and does not reflect the department’s values of integrity, respect, and professionalism," the lawsuit said.
Cottrell allegedly directed Milliman to complete training "in community relations, de-escalation techniques, and interview and interrogation skills," but did not base the discipline on the sergeant's alleged misuse of the Flock system, the suit said.
The towns of Both Bow Mar and Columbine Valley, which are named in the suit, didn't immediately respond for comment. The Columbine Police Department also didn't immediately respond for comment.
The suit accused Flock of having "intentionally intruded upon Ms. Elser’s seclusion by creating a detailed mosaic of her movements."
A spokesman for Flock Safety said in a statement to ABC News that its cameras are "an investigative tool used alongside other evidence to help law enforcement solve crimes."
"As noted in the complaint, the Flock system accurately identified the location of Ms. Elser's vehicle, while law enforcement retained responsibility for interpreting and weighing that information as part of the broader investigation," Paris Lewbel, a spokesman for Flock, said in a statement Wednesday.
"Flock stands by the accuracy and integrity of its technology and intends to vigorously defend itself in this litigation," he added.
"I had no idea the Flock cameras existed and no idea a private company was keeping a record of every time I drove past my own neighborhood, or that any officer could pull it up without asking anyone or giving a reason for doing so," Elser said in a statement. "If it can happen to me, it can happen to you."
