CHARLOTTE — Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Officer Seth Elliott is on unpaid leave after being charged with improperly using law enforcement databases to help the subject of a drug investigation. Newly returned search warrants from Watauga County shine light on what led up to this happening.
According to a warrant seeking to search Officer Elliott’s phone, Elliott and the “drug target,” Michael Kuester, were friends and went to college together. The warrant says in an interview with the SBI, Elliott said he was contacted by Kuester through Snapchat and Kuester said an unknown person was hanging around his father’s business. The warrant said Kuester asked if Elliott could run a plate. Elliott admitted to the SBI he ran the plate through Flock and CJLeads and then provided the information to Kuester in the same Snapchat thread.
The search warrant does not state that Elliott knew he was outing an undercover officer. It also does not state that Elliott had any knowledge Kuester was under investigation for drugs.
Kuester Investigation:
According to a warrant seeking to search Kuester’s phone, in April, the Watauga County Sheriff’s Office interviewed a confidential source who said he was introduced to a Telegram group called SourLeaf Bakery that was selling marijuana products and psilocybin mushrooms. A detective created an undercover Telegram account and was approved to join the group.
The search warrant says an undercover officer made three purchases through the Telegram app. On April 27, an undercover Watauga County Sheriff’s detective wearing a wire pulled into the parking lot of Mountaineer Village while other detectives staged nearby. The warrant says Kuester, in a gray Ford F-150, pulled into the parking lot and sold the undercover officer mushrooms and a vape. The warrant says Kuester stored the drugs in a Milwaukee toolbox. An unidentified male was with Kuester during the sale.
On April 28, the warrant says Kuester started to message the detective on Telegram attempting to “verify” the undercover account. The detective tried to avoid the conversation by saying he wasn’t interested in bringing up his personal life. Kuester claimed his boss “makes him run a dash camera and runs license plate readers.” The warrant says the source who tipped off detectives of the Telegram account vouched for the undercover officer.
On May 5, detectives arranged another drug purchase. The undercover officer pulled into a Wing Stop parking lot to meet Kuester, and the warrant says Kuester sold the officer mushrooms and a vape. Kuester arrived in a Volkswagen Jetta this time. The warrant says the drugs were stored in a Milwaukee toolbox.
On June 16, detectives arranged a third and final sale from Kuester. They met in the Mountaineer Village parking lot where the first sale happened, and the warrant says Kuester was in a white Tesla. The warrant says the Tesla belongs to Kuester’s girlfriend. Kuester provided narcotics out of the Milwaukee toolbox to detectives, according to the warrant. The unidentified male from the first purchase was present with Kuester.
After the third transaction, the warrant says Kuester started to question the undercover officer again on Telegram. He said he needed to know who the undercover officer was because “it was showing that he hadn’t been verified.” Kuester told the undercover officer his plate was fictitious; he provided the officer with the registered owner of the vehicle’s name and said the car was only “photographed once in the last week.” According to warrants, this indicated that Kuester had access to the Flock system and access to NCDMV systems. Kuester asked the undercover officer to “send a photo of a badge.” He then deleted all records of the conversation and kicked the undercover officer out of the Telegram group.
Flock:
Detectives obtained a search warrant for Flock asking for records tied to the undercover officer’s license plate. Specifically, the search warrant asked for search history, user account information, and account identifiers for any Flock users that were currently “watching” the target vehicle. Kuester’s statement to the undercover officer that the vehicle was only photographed once in the past week tipped investigators off to the improper Flock access.
On June 17, one day after the undercover officer was kicked out of the group, a captain for the Watauga County Sheriff’s Office asked Flock if they could identify anyone who searched the vehicle’s license plate number on June 16. Flock said they could provide the information if it went through the proper court channels. After obtaining a warrant that day, Flock said an account belonging to CMPD officer Seth Elliott had searched the license plate number of the undercover officer on June 16.
On June 18, the SBI interviewed Elliott, where he admitted to searching and providing the license plate information to Kuester.
Kuester charged
The Watauga County Sheriff’s Office charged Kuester on June 19. He was charged with three felonies: Selling or delivering a Schedule I controlled substance, selling or delivering marijuana and maintain a dwelling. A judge set his bond at $20,000 secured which he posted and was released from jail.
Elliott was charged on Thursdsay.
The investigation into Elliott is ongoing.
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