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A Texas cop has found himself in hot water after livestreaming a traffic stop on TikTok where he apparently revealed personal information about the person who was stopped, a lawsuit alleges.
Dallas County sheriff's deputy Francisco Castillo is being sued by Tarrant County resident Torry Osby over the incident that happened in March 2021, WFAA reports. The lawsuit says Castillo was live on TikTok — with over 100 people tuned in at the time — when he conducted a traffic stop.
Castillo pulled Osby over for speeding, but during the traffic stop, Osby said he was using cruise control and was, in fact, driving under the speed limit. He was given a verbal warning instead of a citation. Osby, however, said in the lawsuit that Castillo showed his driver's license to those tuned in on the livestream and revealed identifying information including his address and license number. Osby didn't know his information was broadcast on the livestream until a viewer contacted him to tell him. At the time of the traffic stop, Osby had no idea the sheriff's deputy was live on the social media app.
In the lawsuit, there's a screenshot that shows Castillo holding Osby's driver's license and the information being shown to viewers. "Mr. Osby continues to suffer from mental and emotional anguish as a result of Defendant Castillo's unlawful conduct... Mr. Osby was terrified that his identity would be stolen or that his home would be broken into since his address was provided...," the lawsuit states.
According to the lawsuit, Castillo violated Osby's right to privacy and the sheriff's deputy only conducted the traffic stop "in an attempt to gain more 'likes' and followers for his TikTok account." Osby is seeking monetary compensation and damages.
Osby also filed a complaint with the Dallas County Sheriff's Office and Castillo was suspended after being found in violation of the department's social media policy.