AUBURN HILLS, Mich. - Two people open a door and look straight into a security camera. While their hoodies hide their heads and faces, you can see their eyes and their glasses. Now Auburn Hills Police are hoping that's enough to identify the two people, who are suspects of a disturbing crime.
"These are significant charges - it's just not that funny about playing pornography on a billboard. They broke into a structure in order to do it," said Auburn Hills Police Lt. Ryan Gagnon.
Gagnon says at 11 o'clock Saturday night the police started getting multiple phone calls; Pornographic video was playing on a giant billboard along I-75.
"One of our police officers witnessed the video being displayed so the immediate reaction was 'how can we turn this thing off?'" said Gagnon.
Officers reached out to the emergency contact for the company that owns the billboard, who were able to access it remotely and turn off the offensive material, but not before hundreds of drivers saw it. Some even got the colorful footage on video.
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Auburn Hills Police looking for two suspects following an incident where porn was displayed on a billboard
Late Saturday night, Auburn Hills Police began receiving multiple phone calls of a bizarre scene taking place. A billboard on I-75 had pornography playing on it. What appears to be a prank has turned into a city-wide investigation after a video has surfaced showing two men breaking into the structure underneath the billboard, where the controls are. While it's only a 90-day misdemeanor for displaying pornographic material, burglary is a felony offense.
"The billboard faces both north and southbound traffic, which obviously caused a lot of concern for us," Gagnon said. "From what we believe, it could have been played for 15 to 20 minutes at a minimum. Could you imagine seeing something like that - trying to focus on the road and you see this? It certainly could cause a distraction."
While there were no accidents, there are a lot of questions. Police have determined the two people caught on security footage scaled a fence and broke into the small building underneath the billboard. It's just a 90-day misdemeanor for displaying pornographic material.
But breaking into a building? That's a different story.
"Somebody breaking into a building has just elevated it to a burglary which is a felony offense," Gagnon said. "You'd assume that they're trying to play a practical joke with the public and a prank and maybe aren't considering the consequences of their actions."
And those actions could land the two behind bars. Despite any playful commentary that onlookers had for the scene, Auburn Police aren't laughing, and are asking for help in identifying the two people.
"I'm sure there are people out there that found it very offensive what they witnessed on the highway that night. But we need to hear from them," said Gagnon.
They also want to hear from anyone who knows who these people are. You can contact Auburn Hills police at (248) 370-9460.