Two Miami Gardens men were arrested after Coconut Creek police said they tried to walk out of a Walmart with about $1,297 in merchandise using fake receipts generated with artificial intelligence.
According to a Coconut Creek Police Department arrest report, Osniel Reybel Arriola Pacheco, 26, and Michel Hernandez, 46, were involved in the October 18 incident at the Walmart at 5571 West Hillsboro Boulevard. An officer watching live surveillance saw the pair working together, police said.
Hernandez allegedly placed two coffee makers in a shopping cart and handed them to Arriola Pacheco, who carried them and a laptop past the last point of sale, according to the affidavit. Hernandez left about a minute earlier and walked to a vehicle the men were using.
When two uniformed officers approached Arriola Pacheco outside the store, he ran and ignored a command to stop, the affidavit states. An officer tackled him to the ground. A search turned up two baggies containing about 2.6 grams of a substance that tested positive for fentanyl, police said.
Arriola Pacheco told officers he intended to steal the items and said he used Google Gemini to create fictitious Walmart receipts. He showed officers prompts on his phone asking the app to create or modify receipts, including one dated October 18. Both men were taken to the Broward County Main Jail.
The case shows how generative AI tools can be used to fake proof of purchase, a concern for local retailers and loss-prevention staff.
