HOUSTON — A 61-year-old grandfather filed suit against Sunglass Hut’s parent company EssilorLuxottica and retailer Macy’s after he was wrongfully arrested and jailed based on facial recognition software that identified him as the man who robbed a Sunglass Hut store. While he was being held, the man was sexually assaulted at the Harris County Jail.
Though native to Texas, Harvey Eugene Murphy Jr. was living in California at the time of a January 2022 armed robbery at a Sunglass Hut store on West Gray in Houston. Two robbers pointed a gun at a store manager and got away with thousands of dollars in cash and sunglasses.
While Houston police were investigating the crime, the head of loss prevention for EssilorLuxottica said the company, working with its retail partner Macy’s, positively identified Mr. Murphy as the robber through the use of facial recognition software. He was arrested and jailed when he returned to Texas and renewed his driver’s license.