ELYRIA, Ohio — Two Elyria restaurant employees are now facing criminal charges after what police are calling a prank gone wrong. Investigators said the pair used artificial intelligence to make it look like the business was being robbed.
The owner of Rubin’s Restaurant called the Elyria Police Department around 9 a.m. Monday.
“I’m from Rubin’s Deli at Chestnut Commons. We are being robbed at this point. I’m watching the camera right now,” the caller told the dispatcher.
The severity of the call prompted all officers on shift at the time to respond to the restaurant.
“I just got a picture from my cook. They locked them in the office and they’re being robbed as we speak,” the caller said.
He said the image was of a surveillance monitor showing the front register, where it appeared several masked individuals wearing hoods and gloves were directing a cashier to give them money.
When officers arrived, they found no evidence of masked robbers at the restaurant.
In body-worn camera footage, a responding officer can be heard asking customers eating inside whether they witnessed a robbery. They responded that they had not.
“This was a very poor taste, very bad judgment type prank,” said Elyria Police Detective Capt. Bill Lantz. “We understand pranks, but also this is where we start to cross the line.”
He said the investigation revealed an employee had created the image using ChatGPT. Another worker sent it to the store’s owner and prompted the 911 call.
“The owner wasn’t there, didn’t know exactly what was going on, did the right thing by calling us and reporting it because the individual picture appeared to be the same surveillance system he’s familiar with and appeared to be a robbery in process,” Lantz said.
To avoid copycats, the department is not making the image public.
Cybersecurity experts say AI-generated content is quickly becoming more convincing and easier to use.
“It’s unbelievable how quickly the quality of A.I. has increased… and not just over the years – over the months and sometimes over the weeks,” said Alex Hamerstone, the advisory solutions director for Northeast Ohio-based cybersecurity company TrustedSec.
As a test, we used AI software to alter several images of News 5 staff.
It took a matter of minutes to make a normal picture of Meteorologist Allan Nosoff and Anchor Damon Maloney look like they were napping at the News 5 anchor desk.
It was just as similar to make turn News 5 anchor Rob Powers into Father Christmas.
“Now, really anyone can do it from their phone or computer,” Hamerstone said. “The AI-generated video and photos and voices have gotten much better and more believable overall. It really is, I think in many ways, a recipe for disaster.”
He said that increased access comes with new challenges, including for law enforcement.
News 5 previously reported on a viral “intruder prank,” where creators used AI to make it look like an uninvited guest is somewhere they shouldn’t be.
RELATED: Police warn against participating in this viral social media prank
Police said anything that prompts a false report pulls resources away from other duties.
“That’s where the problem lies. With these types of actions and people generating fake content in order to generate a police emergency response, there are consequences,” Lantz said.
He said one of Rubin’s Restaurant employees readily admitted to creating the fake image of the robbery. He was arrested when the police arrived. A second employee turned himself in on Monday night.
Both men are facing charges for swatting and obstructing official business, which are both felonies. They’re also charged with misdemeanor inducing panic charges.
Both workers have been arraigned and posted bond in Elyria Municipal Court.
Catherine Ross is the Lorain County reporter at News 5 Cleveland. Follow her on X @CatherineRossTV, on Facebook CatherineRossTV or email her at Catherine.Ross@wews.com.
