The police followed up with the reporting party and he then admitted the image was AI generated and the report was false.
An alleged Gaboon viper (Bitis gabonica) sighting in Santa Ana, CA was deemed to be fake, after the person who created the AI generated image essentially fessed up. The saga started September 29 when the creator of the AI image reported a sighting of a Gaboon viper in a tree, Santa Ana Police began an investigation and even brought expert herpetologists to search for the venomous snake and found no evidence of a snake matching the description in the image.
The police followed up with the reporting party and he then admitted the image was AI generated and the report was false. Even though Internet sleuths came to their conclusions early that the image was a fake, Santa Ana Police had to investigate the matter and confirmed what actually happened.
Gaboon viper and babies. Photo by Paul Lloyd/Shutterstock
The man, identified by CBS News as Joel Ciprian now faces a criminal case by the Santa Ana Police Department. Because Ciprian allegedly called 911 and made a false emergency report, The Santa Ana police department, according to the Los Angeles Times, is preparing a case for the Orange County Disctict Attorney’s Office. The SAPD is recommending a charge of make a false report of an emergency. Police say significant resou8rces were consumed, including officer time and the hiring of reptile experts to search the neighborhood for the phantom snake. A misdemeanor conviction could carry up to one year in jail.
Ciprian has not been charged yet, but charges could be filed as soon as tomorrow.
The Gaboon viper is native to central, eastern and sections of southern Africa. it is a large, heavy bodied snake. It is not a very good tree climber, and folks on social media pointed this out when the Santa Ana Police issued their bulletin. Adults grow to about 4-5 feet in length and are the heaviest vipers in the world, with some reaching 20lbs. They feed on rodents and small mammals, birds and other vertebrates. They possess a very potent hemotoxic/cytotoxic venom and have the longest fangs of any snake.
