Police evidence lost in Stuart hack attack, six suspected drug dealers walk free

STUART, Fla. — At least six suspected drug dealers walked away free after Stuart prosecutors were forced to drop cases for lack of evidence. The problem? The evidence is currently sitting in computers at the Stuart Police Dept., but hackers have locked investigators out of the files which could have put the suspected drug dealers behind bars for years.

Hackers hit Stuart with ransomware in April 2019, but the police department took the brunt of the damage.

The cyberattack forced the State Attorney’s Office to drop 11 narcotics cases because evidence was lost, Contact 5 has learned.