Man arrested for creating deepfake video to prank cop
04/10/2026 11:59 am PDT
SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. (TCN) — A man has been arrested and charged in connection with allegedly creating an artificial intelligence-generated video to make a false report to a police officer.
WPEC reports that on March 24, a deputy was inside a store in Lake Mary, Florida, when a man came up to him and said he had seen people entering his patrol car in the parking lot. He allegedly showed the deputy a video depicting this. When the deputy went outside, his car was undisturbed and surveillance footage from the store did not show anyone getting into his car.
An investigation found the video was AI-generated and that the man who had allegedly shown it to the deputy was 22-year-old Alexis Martínez-Arizala.
WPEC reports Martínez-Arizala also allegedly posted the video to social media in an effort to go viral. According to Jason Thatcher, the founder of Breacher.AI, which makes deepfake videos for educational purposes, WOFL reports that deepfakes are improving. “The core problem is AI has made this stuff really easy to do,” he said.
A warrant was issued for Martínez-Arizala’s arrest on March 27. He was apprehended on April 8 in Puerto Rico and charged with fabricating evidence, making a false report, and knowingly providing false information to a law enforcement officer. He will be extradited to Seminole County, Florida, and is expected to be held on $7,000 bond, according to WPEC.
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