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Comment by Someone1234 | Hacker News Reader

So has law enforcement been contacted or not? If what Tesla claims he did (data theft, sabotage) were true, that's definitely violating federal law. If they choose not to ask for e.g. FBI assistance, I'd be curious to know their reasoning.

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Having worked at a hedge fund that suffered a data theft, I'd expect the criminal charges, if any, to come several months from now. It takes time for the police to build their case, collect evidence, interview possible witnesses or suspects, etc. All that happens before formal charges are filed. A lawsuit can be filed immediately.

Agreed, I was a minor party to a case like this and it took way longer than I expected for the wheels of justice to turn. It made me nervous for the accused just because the process almost seemed designed to let his life destroy itself even more in the months leading up to any charges being filed.

Tesla has no incentive to get law enforcement involved if they believe the crime is "over". Police poking around Tesla's internal computer systems for months and interviewing everyone is going to be terrible for productivity.

And it gives them no gain.

The question was if law enforcement had been contacted, not if criminal charges would be brought by them if they had.

I'm not sure random HN commenters have the answer you are looking for here...

Well, as of yesterday at least, the PD said on Twitter that no reports had been made.

Since it happened in Nevada, the Fremont PD wouldn't be involved.

It could very well be that Tesla'd IT is working to ensure everything is secure amd backed up before they bring in the heavy hand of the law. I wouldnt trust law enforcement to come in, not just seize hard drives for forensic analysis without having a copy to 1) continue work and 2) inadvertently alter evidence. DOJ method is remove drives, that could you affect production or development depending on the drives removed. Either one could be a huge cost suck.

The lawsuit mentions a wide array of statutes the individual allegedly violated, including numerous felonies. It'd certainly be peculiar if criminal charges were not also pursued.

One would assume law enforcement would prefer for a civil suit to be filed on or after the formal criminal charges, as not to impeded the criminal investigation.

Probably true, but it could well be in the best interest of Musk and Tesla to file publicly now as far as public perception of the business is concerned.

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