‘Deeply concerning’: Houston Police Department to examine how investigation which led to man’s wrongful arrest was done

HOUSTON – After a man filed a lawsuit against Sunglasses Hut and Macy’s after he says he was wrongfully arrested and jailed in Harris County due to faulty facial recognition technology, Houston Police Chief Troy Finner said the department will examine how their investigation was conducted.

61-year-old Harvey Murphy Jr., a Texas native, was living in California when he says facial recognition technology identified him as a suspected robber, accused of taking items from Sunglass Hut and Macy’s.

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Murphy was arrested in Harris County when he came back to renew his driver’s license.

“I recently learned about an allegation of a wrongful arrest and charging of a man following an HPD investigation of a robbery at a business at 2041 West Gray Street on January 22, 2022,” Finner said on X, formerly known as Twitter. “This allegation is deeply concerning to me.”

The lawsuit claims employees at the West Gray Sunglass Hut used their surveillance video with retail shop Macy’s artificial intelligence software following a robbery.

Store leaders apparently told HPD to stop their investigation because they had their man. However, it wasn’t the right person.

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While in the Harris County Jail, the lawsuit alleges Murphy was sexually assaulted by three inmates.

Shortly afterwards, he was released, and charges dropped when his attorneys confirmed he wasn’t even in the state.

“The Houston Police Department is committed to transparency and accountability under my leadership. Therefore, I have instructed our Internal Affairs Division to examine how this investigation was conducted,” Finner said.

Attorney Daniel Dutko of Rusty Hardin & Associates released a statement on the matter.

“Mr. Murphy’s lawsuit does not allege, nor do we believe, that the Houston Police Department did anything wrong. We believe the true bad actors are Sunglass Hut and Macy’s and it was their action in misleading the police that led to Mr. Murphy’s arrest and incarceration.”