In Puerto Rico, a Lake Worth Beach man has been arrested and charged with using AI-generated video to make false police reports.
San Juan authorities arrested Alexis Martinez Arizara, 22, and charged him with providing false information after investigators say he showed officers a realistic AI video of someone stealing a police cruiser.
Attention: Palm Beach County content creator arrested in Puerto Rico
His arrest comes about two weeks after Seminole County deputies say he committed a similar act inside the Academy Sports store in Lake Mary.
Investigators said the suspect approached Seminole County deputies at Academy Sports in Lake Mary on March 24 and showed them a three-second video of two black men getting into a police car in a parking lot.
Deputies were able to confirm that no one was in his car and that the video and report were fabricated. Martinez-Arizala’s warrant was signed on March 27th.
“The misuse of artificial intelligence to create deepfake videos is a growing concern, especially when targeting public safety professionals,” Sheriff Dennis M. Lemma said in a statement. “These fabricated videos can damage reputations, create unnecessary tension, and pose real safety concerns for first responders serving our communities.”
WPTV’s Kate Hussey has been reporting on Martinez-Arizara’s activities in Palm Beach County for several months, including guiding shoppers through malls. Palm Beach Lakes Home Depot The AI-generated video showed them doing things they weren’t doing.
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In October, Melanie Valentine told Hussey: The man showed her a realistic AI video of the truck being stolen and tried to convince her to leave with him to “get the man.”
“It was really scary because you start thinking of all the things that could happen. They could have ambushed you as you were getting out of the truck,” Valentine said.
In a separate incident a few weeks later, body camera footage obtained by WPTV from West Palm Beach police shows Martinez-Arrisara admitting to using a client’s likeness to create an AI image that falsely depicted a man kissing another woman and then showing the image to the man’s wife.
“That’s not his wife. That’s a fake woman,” Martinez-Arizala can be heard saying on the body camera footage.
According to cops, he recorded every reaction on Metagras and posted it on his social media pages to create viral content.
“I reached 50,000 followers on TikTok in one month,” Martinez-Arizara said while speaking with West Palm Beach Police Department officers at the Home Depot on Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard.
A few weeks later, on November 30, police said Martinez-Arizala surprised a West Palm Beach gas station clerk with an AI-generated video that appeared to show a body being dragged out.
He was arrested that night on a charge of resisting a police officer without violence, but the crime was not related to the AI video.
Former Palm Beach County State’s Attorney Dave Aronberg said cases like this highlight flaws in current criminal law.
“The law has not kept up with the rapid advances in technology,” Aaronberg said.
He said civil law allows people to sue over the misuse of their name or likeness, but criminal law often does not directly address impersonation or deception by AI.
“There is no law that directly targets it,” Aronberg said. “That’s why prosecutors have to be creative in how they prosecute this case. However, if the charges don’t apply to the circumstances, a good criminal defense attorney can get them dismissed.”
Aaron Berg said Florida Proposes AI Bill of Rights Restricting the unauthorized use of an individual’s name, image, or likeness in AI-generated content could have filled that gap. This bill was scrapped at the end of the Congress.
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“I think Congress needs to adopt tougher laws specifically aimed at the misuse of artificial intelligence,” Aaronberg said. “That’s the brave new world we’re entering.”
The Seminole County Sheriff’s Office said Martinez-Arizara is scheduled to be extradited to Florida, but that process had not yet occurred as of Monday.
His family did not respond to WPTV’s request for comment.
Martinez-Arizara is charged with tampering with or fabricating physical evidence, unlawful use of a two-way communication device, falsely reporting a crime to law enforcement, and knowingly providing false information to a law enforcement officer regarding an alleged crime.
