A Lake Worth Beach man was arrested in Puerto Rico and is being charged with making a false police report using AI-generated video.
Alexis Martínez-Arizala, 22, is being extradited to Seminole County, where investigators say he approached a Seminole County deputy at an Academy Sports in Lake Mary on March 24, and showed him a three-second video of two Black men entering his patrol vehicle in the parking lot.
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The deputy was able to confirm no one entered his vehicle, and that the video and report were fabricated. A warrant for Martínez-Arizala was signed on March 27.
WPTV's Kate Hussey has been reporting on Martínez-Arizala's activities in Palm Beach County for months, including showing shoppers at a Palm Beach Lakes Home Depot AI-generated videos that depicted them doing things they did not.
In October, Melanie Valentine told Hussey a man showed her a realistic AI video of her truck being stolen, then tried to convince her to leave with him to "catch the guy."
"It was really scary because you start to think about all of the things that could have possibly happened. Maybe they would have ambushed me when I was getting out of the truck," Valentine said.
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The suspect was initially arrested Nov. 30 in Palm Beach County, after showing an AI-generated video to a gas station clerk at a Marathon on Southern Boulevard and Dixie Highway, which led to a disturbance.
Martínez-Arizala is facing charges of tampering with or fabricating physical evidence, unlawful use of a two-way communication device, false report of a crime to law enforcement and knowingly giving false information to a law enforcement officer concerning the alleged commission of a crime.
