Fifth lawsuit alleges nudes stolen by Florissant officer
ST. LOUIS — Another federal lawsuit was filed against a Florissant officer the day after the cop was federally indicted on charges of stealing nude photos from 20 victims during traffic stops.
The filing represents the fifth lawsuit and the ninth victim to sue former Florissant police Officer Julian Alcala and the city.
Alcala was federally indicted Wednesday on 20 misdemeanor counts accusing him of willfully depriving someone of their Constitutional or legal rights, privileges, or immunities, and one felony count of obstructing an investigation by destroying evidence.
Thursday's suit says the plaintiff, identified by the pseudonym Jane Doe, was pulled over by Alcala in March. She and her boyfriend were in the car, the suit said.
Just like in the other four lawsuits, and now his criminal charges, the suit alleges Alcala demanded to see her insurance card on her phone, took her phone back to his patrol car, searched for nude photos and then took his own photos of those pictures and videos. Jane Doe also said Alcala told her she had an arrest warrant, but the warrant information was never confirmed and she was allowed to leave the traffic stop.
The 20 stops mentioned in Alcala's criminal charges happened between Feb. 6 and May 18.
Public records show Alcala, 29, was hired by the Florissant Police in January 2023 as a probationary officer while he completed the police academy at Jefferson College in Hillsboro. He graduated in the summer of 2023, the college said, and was sworn in as an officer in the beginning of July that year, according to Florissant records.
He resigned June 6 and Missouri's Peace Officer Standards and Training said in mid-October he had permanently surrendered his Class A peace officer license.
Most of the lawsuits filed against Alcala and the city of Florissant say the women who were victimized were approached by FBI agents and asked to identify themselves in the nude images.
The other suits' plaintiffs include five women, one teenage girl and two men. None of whom were named in their suits.
A few weeks before these lawsuits were filed, a Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper was charged with similar accusations in two counties about three hours south of St. Louis.
That trooper, David McKnight, faces six felony charges of invasion of privacy in two separate criminal cases — one in New Madrid County and one in Scott County.
McKnight on Tuesday was also federally indicted by a grand jury on 10 felony counts — nine of which accuse him of stealing nude photos during traffic stops and one accusing him of destroying evidence by deleting some of the nude images from his phone.
Alcala is set to appear before a judge Friday afternoon in his criminal case.
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