Viral Magazine

By Brett O'Keefe, Lakeshore Regional News, Milwaukee

MILWAUKEE — Authorities say a man was detained this week after a grocery store shopper alerted police to what appeared to be an unusual method of unlocking a smartphone: a detached human eyeball.

According to police, the incident occurred at a neighborhood grocery store on the city’s east side, where a customer reported seeing a man remove what looked like an eyeball from a small insulated bag, hold it briefly up to his phone, and then place it back inside before continuing to shop.

“At first I thought it was some kind of prank or prop,” said the shopper, who asked not to be identified. “Then he just put it back in the bag like it was normal and kept walking. That’s when I told an employee.”

Officers responding to the call questioned the man, identified in court records as Evan Richter, 34. Police say Richter cooperated and acknowledged that the eyeball was real and had been used to unlock his phone’s biometric security.

Investigators later determined that the eyeball had been taken without authorization from a medical research facility where it had been preserved as part of anatomical study materials. Authorities emphasized that the eyeball was not connected to any violent crime.

“This was not a homicide investigation,” said Milwaukee Police Department spokesperson Lt. Carla Nguyen. “This was a theft from a research setting and a misuse of human biological material.”

Richter, who has no prior criminal record, told police he used the eyeball to avoid providing his own biometric data to technology companies or government databases, according to a criminal complaint.

“He expressed strong opposition to what he described as a surveillance state,” Nguyen said. “He believed using his own eye would contribute to long-term tracking.”

Court documents also note that Richter told investigators he takes other steps to avoid consistent biometric patterns, including deliberately altering his walking style. Police said he admitted to placing a small rock in different shoes each day to change his gait.

“He said he didn’t want to walk the same way twice,” Nguyen said.

Privacy experts say the case reflects growing anxiety around biometric data but also highlights the limits of personal resistance.

“People are increasingly aware that their bodies are becoming passwords,” said Dr. Leonard Ames, a digital privacy researcher at a Wisconsin university. “But using stolen human tissue crosses a clear legal and ethical line.”

Richter has been charged with theft, abuse of a corpse under state statute, and possession of stolen property. He was released on bond and is scheduled to appear in court next month.

Prosecutors said additional charges are possible pending review of how the biological material was obtained and transported.

Store employees said no products were contaminated and that the incident did not pose a health risk to customers.

For the shopper who reported the incident, the moment still lingers.

“I get being worried about privacy,” the shopper said. “But pulling out an eyeball in the produce aisle is where I draw the line. It's not even Halloween!”