Woman spent 13 days wrongly jailed after Flock camera tied her car to deadly crash

Automated license plate readers have spread across American roads in recent years, sold to police departments as a way to generate investigative leads. In Florida, a single camera hit put an innocent woman behind bars for almost two weeks. Lindsey Brooke Isaacs, a 23-year-old Palm Coast resident, spent 13 days in jail over a fatal crash she had nothing to do with.

Isaacs was arrested after Florida Highway Patrol investigators tied her to a hit-and-run on Interstate 4, according to Fox News. Her lawsuit argues the camera hit was treated as proof rather than a lead, as investigators pressed ahead despite contradictory evidence sitting in the file.

The crash happened on eastbound I-4 near DeBary in Volusia County last October. Prosecutors allege a Dodge Durango traveling around 112 mph struck a Suzuki motorcycle, then crossed back across the highway into a Ford Focus that was pushed into a Honda Pilot.

The witness told police the SUV was maroon, not black

Three people were killed in the crash, including 54-year-old motorcyclist Joaquin Deno. Jorge Salinas, the deputy administrator for Flagler County, and his wife Nancy also died. Another driver, Mariliz Barrios-Barrios, was seriously injured.

A Flock automated license plate reader captured Isaacs’ black 2025 Dodge Durango on eastbound I-4 at 9:51 p.m., roughly three miles west of the crash site. That single data point became the spine of the case against her. However, the physical evidence pointed somewhere else entirely.

A witness reported a maroon SUV rather than a black one and gave dispatchers a partial license plate. Investigators also found red or maroon paint transfer on one of the vehicles involved in the collision. Isaacs’ Durango was black, and a specialized patrol team that later re-examined the case found no meaningful collision damage on it.

Isaacs surrendered in April after learning a warrant had been issued, as investigators pressed the case forward. She faced eight felony charges, including three counts of vehicular homicide, and could have faced life imprisonment if convicted. She spent 13 days in jail, with her first stretch in isolation.

The case turned once prosecutors and a new patrol team took a second look, as a Volusia County assistant state attorney raised concerns about the investigation. The State Attorney’s Office dropped all eight charges in May. Authorities then arrested Alisa Lee Montalvo, 47, who is accused of driving the maroon Durango and now faces nine charges.

Isaacs has since filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against two Florida Highway Patrol troopers, alleging false arrest, wrongful imprisonment, and malicious prosecution. The complaint claims investigators falsely described damage on her vehicle and left out the witness account of the maroon SUV. Those claims have not been tested in court.

Flock Safety maintains that its cameras provide investigative leads rather than determinations of guilt. However, questions about automated systems running with too little human oversight keep popping up, including reports of AI agents making unauthorized requests across the web.

Her legal team argued a time and distance analysis showed Isaacs had already passed the crash site before it happened. The case has become a reference point in the growing backlash against automated readers, as Florida moved to pull them off state highways.

The Florida Department of Transportation revoked permits for readers in state highway rights of way on August 31, and agencies have 30 days to take the cameras down before the department removes them itself.