PINELLAS COUNTY, FL — A Pinellas County Sheriff's Office deputy was arrested Thursday after an investigation found he accessed law enforcement databases more than 100 times to obtain personal information about his estranged wife, her boyfriend and other family members, the agency said in a news release.
Ronald Scott, 35, was charged with three counts of accessing a computer or electronic device without authority and one count of official misconduct, PCSO said.
An enhanced audit of the agency's automated license plate reader (ALPR) system found more than 100 instances of alleged misuse by Scott between Feb. 14 and June 19, 2026.
Investigators determined he had unlawfully accessed the Flock license plate reader database, as well as other state databases/
Scott, who was hired by the sheriff's office in February 2016, resigned on Wednesday, one day before his arrest. He was booked into the Pinellas County Jail.
Sheriff Bob Gualtieri was quick to defend ALPRs, saying that the issue isn't with the technology itself but with people who have access to confidential databases abusing that access for personal reasons.
"As I've repeatedly said, this is a people problem, not an ALPR problem. The issue of people with access to confidential databases, misusing those databases for personal reasons has existed forever…we will monitor and take appropriate action when we find misuse," he said.
The PCSO also recently completed its historical audits of access to the technology, using the enhanced auditing capabilities, and "is confident that this is the last historical case of ALPR system misuse," according to the news release.
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