Reno, Nev. ( Associated Press) – A Nevada judge has granted a request by Reno Mayor Hilary Sheeve to compel a private investigator to reveal who hired her company to secretly install a tracking device in the mayor’s car. is kept
Washoe County District Judge David Hardy approved Friday that David McNeely and his private investigative firm 5 Alpha Industries, the Reno Gazette Journal reported.
Shive had filed a lawsuit against him last month after a GPS device capable of tracking his location in real time was found in his vehicle.
The lawsuit claims the researcher trespassed on his property in order to install the device. She says that Shive was unaware that he was being tracked until a mechanic discovered the device in his vehicle.
A “sophisticated GPS tracking device” provided “minute-by-minute updates on her location, in continued violation of her privacy,” the lawsuit reads.
The complaint states that the investigator works on behalf of an “unknown third party” whose identity she has not been able to verify.
Shiva, who brought the suit as a private citizen, was last month elected to her third term as mayor, a position she has held since 2014. She is seeking damages for confidentiality, civil conspiracy and negligence, as well as attorneys’ fees. ,
In her order issued Friday, Judge Hardy said Shivi “pursues this court to issue subpoenas to David McNeely and 5 Alpha Industries, LLC, to obtain documents sufficient to identify that person or entity.” , who had appointed him to supervise Ms. Shiva.”
“Upon review, this Court finds good reason to permit expedited discovery for the limited purpose of identifying defendant ‘So-and-so’,” he wrote.
After the lawsuit was filed, 5 Alpha’s website was shut down. McNeely has not responded to requests for comment, including a phone message left at his office by The Associated Press on Saturday. Jen Susskind, a Reno attorney who is listed in court documents as her representative, did not immediately respond to an Associated Press request for comment by phone and email messages Saturday.
