In late September we reported that someone hacked into an electronic billboard along I-75 in a Detroit Michigan suburb, causing the video display to show hardcore porn to passing motorists for 15 – 20 minutes.
Now, it has been announced that two youths were charged in connection with the strange crime.
Auburn Hills Police Department charged a 16-year-old from South Lyon and an 18-year-old from Sterling Heights, said Auburn Police Department Lt. Ryan Gagnon.
While most electronic video billboards are controlled from a remote location, the Auburn Hills display was operated from a laptop computer housed in a small shed beneath the roadside billboard.
The 16-year-old, who was responsible for going into the shed and posting the X-rated video display, this week was placed in a juvenile diversion program. If he complies with the program, he will not face formal charges, Gagnon said.
The 18-year-old was charged with trespassing in November.
Gagnon said the department was able to identify the two teenagers through anonymous tips.
The two youths entered the building where the billboard controls were located about 10:49 p.m. Sept. 28 and were in the space for about 15 minutes, according to police.
Police received reports of pornographic videos being displayed on the electronic freeway billboard, located on the east side of I-75 south of M-59, about 11 p.m. By the time officers arrived, the videos had been playing for 15-20 minutes before being turned off, according to Auburn Hills Police.
The teens were able to enter the space through the 6-foot fence, which had been previously damaged. The shed was unlocked when they entered because people from the company that owned the shed had forced their way into the building when the locks froze over and never replaced them, Gagnon said.
Gagnon said the display was shut down for several days while it was changed to be accessed remotely to avoid a repeat of the situation.
Gagnon said that it remains “unclear how exactly they thought about this or why they chose this, other than you can obviously see a shed underneath the sign and maybe curiosity piqued their interest whether or not they could get in, maybe that ran the billboard,” he said. “You look at any other billboard and there is no shed underneath it.”
One Response
Loose lips sink ships.
They probably bragged to their friends.