LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A Clark County School District computer technician arrested on suspicion of installing electronic monitoring equipment told detectives it was for his “AI device business,” according to court documents.
Haroon Zakai, 44, told CCSD law enforcement officials that he was trying to record student conversations for an artificial intelligence project with the goal of “eradicating bullying,” the complaint said.
CCSD police arrested Zakai on Wednesday, March 20th. He was a staff member at Gwendolyn Woolley Elementary School.
According to court documents, officers were called to the school Wednesday after a teacher discovered a digital recording device inside a sensor that had fallen from the ceiling and onto the classroom floor.
The same teacher told police that Zakai entered the room and tried to take the device away.
CCSD police officials said Zakai got down on one knee and asked people not to call law enforcement, saying he would “destruct himself.”
According to the report, he took the device away from the teacher and said, “Delete it and you'll never do it again.''
According to court documents, he “kept saying, 'Let me delete it,'” and an argument ensued in which the teacher placed Zakai in a “Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu” hold. Zakai then “began crying” and the teacher released him, the report said.
Zakai allegedly ran out of the room with the device. He then called the school's principal and told him he had left with his son but that he would return to speak with law enforcement officials, documents show.
CCSD Police obtained the device and turned it over for processing.
Zakai is charged with charges related to electronic surveillance in schools without knowledge, attempted destruction or concealment of evidence, damage to community property, and monitoring of private conversations.
He was placed on unpaid leave and barred from campus.
