Reno mayor claims private investigator put tracking device on her car

The mayor of Reno, Nevada, is suing a private investigator and his company, alleging that he installed a tracking device on her car. 

Mayor Hillary Schieve claims in a lawsuit that private investigator David McNeely and 5 Alpha Industries slipped onto her property on behalf of an “unidentified third party” to install a GPS device on her personal vehicle without her consent. 

“The tracking and surveillance of Schieve caused her, as it would cause any reasonable person, significant fear and distress,” according to the complaint, which was filed in Washoe County’s Second Judicial District Court.

Schieve learned about the tracking device after a mechanic noticed it while he was working on her car. After she brought the device to police in Sparks, Nevada, they determined McNeely had purchased it.

Schieve, who was re-elected to a third term as Reno’s mayor last month and has held the office since 2014, said she learned about the device two weeks before the vote, according to The Nevada Independent, which first reported on the lawsuit. 

“I am publicly announcing this now, and did not make any public statements at the time when it was discovered, to make clear that this is about one thing, and one thing only: it is not OK to stalk people,” Schieve said.

The mayor is seeking restitution for invasion of privacy, trespassing, civil conspiracy, negligence, and attorney’s costs, as well as the identify of the client, according to the complaint. 

The complaint also claims, without any evidence, that the company has “installed similar tracking devices on other vehicles of multiple other prominent community members.”  

McNeely and 5 Alpha Industries did not immediately respond to requests for comment. 

With Post wires