Texas grandfather was wrongly ID’d as Sunglass Hut robber by facial recognition technology and GANG-RAPED after being jailed for crime that took place while he was in California, lawsuit claims

A Texas man is suing the parent company of Sunglass Hut after he was wrongly identified as the suspect in a robbery and thrown in jail only to be raped by three other men and left with permanent injuries.

Harvey Eugene Murphy, Jr., 61, is suing Sunglass Hut’s parent company, EssilorLuxottica USA, and several others. He is seeking ten million dollars in damages.

Murphy, a grandfather who grew up in Texas, was in Sacramento, California when two gunmen burst into the Sunglass Hut on West Gray in Houston.

He was 2,000 miles away when one of the men shoved a gun in the face of the manager, Thomas Stites, and sales associate Greysi Nayeli Rodriguez Bonilla.

The suspect demanded all the money in the store, while his companion grabbed armfuls of sunglasses. Stites and Bonilla were forced into the rear storage room and ordered to remain there until the robbers left.

Houston police interviewed employees at the scene and reviewed security footage and found video of the getaway vehicle.

Police tracked down the owner of the vehicle’s license plates and confirmed that they had been stolen 10 days before the robbery.

During the investigation, officers received a call from Anthony Pfleger, head of loss prevention at EssilorLuxottica. Pfleger said he worked with Macy’s Loss Prevention to determine that the person who robbed the store was Murphy.

“Using artificial intelligence and facial recognition software, EssilorLuxottica and Macy’s acquired the video of the robbery and determined that Murphy was the robber,” the lawsuit said. “The video was shot with Kimco’s poor cameras.”

HPD visited the Sunglass Hut and requested a photo lineup with the employees. However, EssilorLuxottica only allowed HPD to present the photo series to Bonilla and refused to make Stites available, the lawsuit alleges.

It is further alleged that the company had already prepared Bonilla to identify Murphy as the man who threatened her life.

Murphy was living in the town of Gonzales when a warrant was issued for his arrest after returning from California for work. He visited the DMV when his driver’s license expired and was taken into custody.

“Murphy was clearly confused because — as he repeatedly told HPD — he had done nothing wrong in years,” the lawsuit reads.

The lawsuit acknowledges that Murphy had a lengthy criminal history, but his lawyers argue that this was related to “nonviolent burglaries” committed when he was in his 20s, a period he spent in and out of prison.

“Murphy started working full time and going to church. He worked in the prison ministry and helped people change their lives the way he did,” the lawsuit said. “So when Murphy was arrested at the DMV, he had no idea what was going on.”

Murphy was charged after being transferred to Harris County. He was charged and the district attorney’s office asked the judge to keep him locked up without bond.

It wasn’t until his sentencing hearing that Murphy finally learned what he was accused of, according to the lawsuit.

After being placed in a maximum security prison, the 61-year-old was followed into the bathroom by three criminals who beat him, forced him to the ground and gang-raped him.

After the attack, one of the assailants held a shaft to Murphy’s neck and threatened to kill him if he reported the attack to anyone.

“Murphy crawled to his bed and looked at the wall, praying that these men would not attack him again,” the suit reads.

The charges against him were dropped hours later and he was released.

“Murphy was released a few hours later, but in some ways he never left prison. His time in prison will stay with him forever. Not an hour goes by without Murphy reliving the brutal attack and rape.”

His lawyers claim he has permanent injuries “that he has to live with every day of his life.”

Citing research from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Texas man’s legal team claims that EssilorLuxottica and Macy’s “knew there was a nearly 90% error rate” when facial recognition technology attempts to “match a subject’s face to photos that were made more than 100 years ago’. 18 years earlier.’

Furthermore, using Murphy’s mugshot, which was taken decades ago in the 1980s, would make the facial recognition comparison “error-prone and flawed.”

The charges allege malicious prosecution, false imprisonment, negligence and gross negligence.

Murphy is seeking compensation for past and future medical expenses, mental suffering, lost wages and future loss of wage-earning capacity.

In addition to Luxxotica, others named in the lawsuit include employees of Sunglass Hut, Stites and Bonilla; Thomas Pfleger, head of prevention at EssilorLuxottica; Macy’s, Inc.; and Kimco Realty Corporation, which owns the cameras.

Daniel Dutko of Rusty Hardin & Associates, who along with attorney Leah Graham is representing Murphy, issued a statement.

‘Mr. Murphy’s story is disturbing to every citizen in this country,” Dutko said. “Anyone can be wrongly accused of a crime based on error-prone facial recognition software, just like him.”

Macy’s declined to comment on the lawsuit. EssilorLuxottica and Kimco Realty Corporation did not immediately respond to requests for comment.