A 9-year-old has been charged with larceny after the Alexa device he allegedly stole from his neighbor’s house sent his own voice recordings to his neighbor’s phone.
MassLive reports that a 9-year-old boy has been charged with larceny after the Amazon Echo home assistant he allegedly stole recorded the boy’s voice at one point and sent it to his neighbor’s cell-phone, allowing her to quickly identify the boy to local police.
The young boy allegedly stole the Echo device along with an iPhone, a phone charger, $46 in cash, and an unknown Amazon package. According to a police report filed by the Gloucester Police, the boy allegedly entered the home through a screen door at the back of the house and had entered the home on three separate occasions throughout the week. Luckily, the neighbor had a feature set up on her phone that allowed her to listen to recordings taken by the Echo device.
After listening to one of the recordings, the woman believed that she recognized the voice of the 9-year-old and promptly contacted police with the new information. Police paid a visit to the 9-year-old’s home and spoke to his mother, who gave them permission to speak to her son. He initially denied any wrongdoing before eventually admitting that he was indeed the burglar in the situation.
The boy then reportedly showed police officers where he had hidden the stolen goods. The police report does not include statements from the child or his mother explaining why he stole the items. The 9-year-old will be facing charges in juvenile court.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan_ or email him at lnolan@breitbart.com