SPRINGFIELD — Two employees at an Ohio restaurant are facing charges after they allegedly used artificial intelligence to report a robbery, according to our CBS affiliate WOIO-19 TV.
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Elyria police responded to reports of an active robbery at Rubin’s Deli, located at 312 Chestnut Commons Drive, on Monday morning.
The caller, who identified themselves as the owner, said they were watching the security cameras and saw multiple suspects in black ski masks robbing the store.
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WOIO-19 reported that all available Elyria police and detectives responded to the scene immediately.
Upon arrival, officers didn’t find anything out of the ordinary and secured the area.
Authorities went inside and asked an employee what was going on, but they said there was no robbery.
An investigation found that the report was fake and made up by two restaurant employees as part of a prank, WOIO-19 reported.
Investigators determined that the employees allegedly used artificial intelligence-generated (AI) to make the situation more credible.
WOIO-19 identified the two employees responsible as Todd Durst, 45, and Luis Acevedo Jr., 40.
Acevedo was seen in the office looking at the cameras before exiting and reporting that there were no injuries.
At the time of the police response, Acevedo didn’t tell authorities he was involved in the incident; instead left the scene.
Durst reportedly told authorities that he used ChatGPT to create a photo and sent it to Acevedo, who then sent the photo to the owner, WOIO-19 reported.
The owner then contacted authorities, believing the deli was being robbed.
Durst was arrested on scene for swatting, obstructing official business and inducing panic, our CBS affiliate reported.
He remains booked into the Lorain County Jail.
An arrest warrant has been issued for Acevedo and authorities believe he left the scene while they were talking to other employees.
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