A Lake Worth Beach man was arrested in Puerto Rico and is being charged with making a false police report using AI-generated video.
Authorities in San Juan arrested Alexis Martínez-Arizala, 22, and charged him with providing false information after investigators say he showed an officer a realistic AI video depicting someone stealing the officer’s patrol cruiser.
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His arrest came about two weeks after deputies in Seminole County say he carried out a similar stunt inside an Academy Sports store in Lake Mary.
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.
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.
“The misuse of artificial intelligence to create deepfake videos is a growing concern, particularly when it targets public safety professionals,” said Sheriff Dennis M. Lemma in a statement. “These fabricated videos can damage reputations, create unnecessary tensions, and raise real safety concerns for the first responders who serve our communities."
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.
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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.
In another incident a few weeks later, body camera footage WPTV obtained from West Palm Beach police shows Martínez-Arizala admitting he creating an AI image using a customer’s likeness that falsely depicted the man kissing another woman, then showed the image to the man’s wife.
"That's not his wife, that's a fake woman," Martínez-Arizala can be heard saying on body camera footage.
Officers say he was recording all the reactions on his Meta glasses and posting them on his social media pages to create viral content.
“In one month I hit 50,000 followers on TikTok," Martínez-Arizala says while speaking with West Palm Beach police officers at the Home Depot on Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard.
Weeks after that, on Nov. 30, police say Martínez-Arizala also startled a West Palm Beach gas station clerk by showing him an AI-generated video appearing to depict a body being dragged away.
He was arrested that night on a charge of resisting an officer without violence, but not for any crimes related to the AI videos.
Former Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg said cases like this highlight gaps in current criminal law.
“Laws have not kept up with the fast pace of technology,” Aronberg said.
He said that while civil laws allow people to sue over misuse of their name or likeness, criminal statutes often don’t directly address AI-generated impersonation or deception.
“There are no laws that are directly on point,” Aronberg said. “That’s why prosecutors have to get creative in how to charge this — but a good criminal defense lawyer will get you out of the charges if the charges don’t apply to the situation.”
Aronberg said Florida’s proposed AI Bill of Rights could have helped close that gap by limiting unauthorized use of a person’s name, image, or likeness in AI-generated content. The bill died in the final days of the legislative session.
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“I think the Legislature needs to adopt tougher laws that are specifically oriented to the misuse of artificial intelligence,” Aronberg said. “That’s the brave new world we’re entering into.”
The Seminole County Sheriff’s Office said Martínez-Arizala is expected to be extradited back to Florida, but that process had not happened as of Monday.
His family did not respond to WPTV’s request for comment.
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.