Commissioner joins Reno mayor in alleging vehicle tracking

RENO, Nev. (AP) — A second public official in Nevada is suing a private investigator who allegedly put tracking devices on his and Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve’s vehicles, according to an amended lawsuit.

Washoe County Commissioner Vaughn Hartung, who represents parts of Sparks, Spanish Springs and Hidden Valley that neighbors Reno, joined Schieve’s lawsuit on Thursday and alleged the tracking caused him “severe distress and anxiety.”

Schieve’s lawsuit, first reported by The Nevada Independent and KUNR, was filed in Washoe County’s Second Judicial Court in December. She is seeking restitution for invasion of privacy, trespassing, civil conspiracy and negligence, as well as attorney’s costs.

The tracking device was on Schieve’s vehicle for at least several weeks and on Hartung’s vehicle for several months. The lawsuit also alleges that a website now shows the locations visited by Hartung over a seven-month period.

“This intrusive conduct is tortious, improper, and unequivocally barred by Nevada law,” the lawsuit says.

Hartung and Schieve are also asking private investigator David McNeely to disclose the name of the client who hired him. McNeely is fighting that request.

Neither McNeely nor his company, 5 Alpha Industries, responded to a request for comment emailed Friday by The Associated Press. McNeely previously told police that he put the tracking device on Schieve’s vehicle after being hired to do work for a political campaign.

Schieve brought the GPS tracking device to neighboring Sparks Police Department after a mechanic noticed it while working on her vehicle last year in the thick of campaign season — about two weeks before she won re-election for mayor. Sparks police were able to determine that it had been purchased by McNeely.

Schieve previously said that she brought the device to neighboring Sparks to avoid any conflict of interest concerns.

Hartung discovered the tracking device after being made aware of unspecified records that showed his vehicle locations at his personal residence and other locations, the lawsuit said.

The vehicle was also used by Hartung’s wife and daughter on trips that he did not take — and the location data includes “private and confidential locations” that his family members visited, including family trip locations, religious institutions and medical providers.