BELLMEAD, Texas — The Bellmead Assistant Police Chief used a state database to look up a license plate, which a criminal complain alleges was not for work-related purposes.
Brenda Kinsey was charged with misuse of official information, a third-degree felony, according to the complaint filed on Tuesday.
The charge came one day after she had filed a discrimination complaint against Interim Police Chief Zachary Yost.
She claimed Zachary "made her work environment intolerable, used offensive and sexually demeaning language and treated her differently than her male peers."
According to the criminal complaint, Kinsey used the Texas Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (TLETS) to look up an out of state plate on Aug. 18.
The complaint says Kinsey was going through a divorce at the time and became aware of a woman her estranged husband was dating.
Kinsey used a recorded Bellmead police phone line to request the license plate information to get a printed copy of the vehicle registration, the complaint says.
During the call, the complaint says Kinsey said she needed it for work-related purposes and was going to give it to the police chief. The interim chief at that time was Yost Zakhary.
The complaint says Kinsey then drove to the home of her estranged husband and found a vehicle in the driveway with that same license plate. The complaint does not say who owned the vehicle.
Kinsey was briefly booked into the McLennan County Jail before getting out on a $3,000 bond.
This is the second time Zakhary has been accused of harassment. He resigned from the same position in Woodway in 2018 amid allegations of sexual harassment and a subsequent lawsuit by an employee.
Kinsey's attorney, Ryan Johnson, sent a second letter to Zakhary and the city council after Kinsey's arrest saying it was retaliation.
"It's no coincidence that less than 24 hours after Ms. Kinsey filed her discrimination complaint with the city, Mr. Zakhary caused an arrest warrant to be issued against Ms. Kinsey," the letter reads. "Textbook retaliation. But not surprising to anyone who knows Yost Zakhary. He's discriminatory. He's vindictive. And he's reckless. And he's costing the city of Bellmead a lot of money."
6 News reached out to Zakhary and the City of Bellmead Wednesday but had not received a response of the time this article was published.