BATON ROUGE, La. – A woman who was recently arrested for drugs said she found a tracking device on her vehicle over the weekend. She said she watched law enforcement officers place it on her car Friday.
The device was found under the passenger side of her car. It’s a black box with a lithium battery inside and a large magnet.
Tiara Beverly said she was arrested last month on serious drug charges. On Wednesday, she said five law enforcement officers who identified themselves as state troopers showed up at her door asking about a person she knew. That person wasn’t there, but she said she filed an internal affairs complaint against the troopers over the way they handled her that evening.
Two days later, she said she saw some men in her gated apartment complex hovering around her car. One day later, she said she noticed the tracking device.
“I instantly panicked,” Beverly said. “I didn’t know if it was a bomb, but then I did find out it was a tracker.”
Not trusting law enforcement, she reached out to the NAACP.
Eugene Collins said State Police contacted him Monday demanding the return of the device.
“They asked me to return the box,” Collins said. “It could make the situation more difficult for me.”
The WBRZ Investigative Unit found the device attached to a pole across the street from McKinley Middle School. State Police issued the following statement.
“Upon speaking with our detectives, this is part of an ongoing investigation involving Ms. Beverly and a suspect with federal warrants. As part of the investigative process, a warrant was obtained for the surveillance equipment. Upon the conclusion of the investigation, further information will be available regarding charges and investigative documents.”
With few answers about what the tracker was for, Beverly appears to have circumvented whatever State Police were trying to do.
“It’s bush league,” Collins said. “The fact that a young woman can see you doing something like this means you’re not very good at it.”
