Houston crime: Man suing Macy's, Sunglass Hut for $10 million following false arrest
HOUSTON - On January 22, 2022, a Sunglass Hut on West Gray in Houston was robbed by two armed men.
The employees inside were threatened at gunpoint, and taken to the back of the store while the suspects stole money and several pairs of glasses.
"Sunglass Hut may not have access to facial recognition software, and so the documents show that they took the video to Macy’s, then used his features to determine that he was the one that had robbed Macy’s before, and identified him - Mr. Murphy, and told Sunglass Hut."
Daniel Dutko is the lawyer for 61-year-old Harvey Eugene Murphy Jr. - who is from Houston. He says his client was in California at the time of the crime.
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Murphy Junior eventually moved back to Texas for work.
"In October 2023, he goes to the DMV to get his driver's license renewed and the police officer comes around the counter and puts handcuffs on and arrest him," said Dutko.
That was the beginning of a life-changing ordeal. Murphy was taken to jail for multiple felony warrants for the robbery at the Sunglass Hut.
Court documents suggest the store employee was prepped by the company and identified Murphy as the robber, with facial recognition playing a key role in his arrest.
Murphy gave officers his alibi - it checked out - and he was told he would be released.
"In a few hours, while he was being held in jail, he was going to use the restroom. He was beaten, sexually assaulted and raped," said Dutko.
Because of the nature of the alleged crime, lawyers say Murphy Jr. was put alongside violent criminals.
Three men followed him to the bathroom, and he was raped with a shank pressed against his neck. He was released, and the case was dismissed.
He is now suing the parent company of Sunglass Hut and Macy’s for using the facial recognition software that led to his false imprisonment.
The danger of using the technology is also outlined in court documents.
"I know for a fact that studies show that African Americans have a high rate of false positives based on facial recognition software. I also know comparing people who are older with pictures of them of other people when young, so aged gaps, have a very high rate up to 90% of false positives," said Dutko.
His lawyer says Murphy has longstanding physical and psychological injuries. He's coming forward to raise awareness and hopefully prevent this from happening to anyone else.
The Houston Police Department and Harris County are not named in the lawsuit.
Attorney Daniel Dutko of Rusty Hardin & Associates has the following response:
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.
Murphy's attorney believes the parent companies of Macy’s and Sunglass Hut are at fault here and they are suing for $10 million.
We reached to Macy’s and they said, "We have no comment on pending litigation."