Former Amarillo, Texas officer charged with 78 counts for using Flock database to track romantic rival

On August 31, 2026, the Potter County Attorney's Office in Amarillo, Texas accepted a criminal complaint charging former Amarillo Police Department officer Christian Slade Eder, 29, with 78 counts of tampering with a government record, all Class A misdemeanors. An audit found Eder had searched a man's license plate 76 times through APD's Flock camera system between February and June 2026, and searched the man's name twice more, on April 22, through the TLOxp law-enforcement records database. Court records show the man had previously dated a fellow APD officer in whom Eder had expressed romantic interest, and that the man reported Eder had driven by his home late at night.

Each time, Eder was required to enter a reason justifying the search. According to the criminal complaint, he instead entered false investigative reasons -- including alcohol offenses, wanted persons, disorderly conduct, motor vehicle theft, hit-and-run crashes, and city planning -- and investigators found no APD calls, cases, or assignments involving the man or his vehicle that matched any of them. APD fired Eder on July 17, 2026 following an internal investigation triggered by the man's complaint, but did not disclose the firing publicly for 33 days, until after ABC 7 News began asking questions. Chief Thomas Hover later said he was "deeply frustrated and disappointed by Officer Eder's decision to use his access to criminal justice information for a personal purpose and then be dishonest in an attempt to conceal his actions," and said the department has since added supervisory review of officer searches, expanded audit capabilities, limited software access, and shortened data-retention periods.

Eder turned himself in at the Potter County Detention Center on the evening of September 1 and was released on a $4,500 bond. He waived his right to a pre-trial arraignment and pleaded not guilty the following day. The criminal case remains separate from, and subject to, the judicial process; the underlying administrative firing was based on APD's own internal investigation findings.