Like so many Americans, 67-year-old David Allen Smith was aggravated when his familyâs computer suddenly stopped working. In response to these nagging tech problems, Allenâs wife took the family device to the âGeek Squadâ at their local âBest Buyâ store.
Police on location say the âGeek Squadâ when reviewing Smithâs troubled machine, uncovered a vile stash of child pornography in the systemâs hard drive. When the employees noticed the abundance of explicit and raunchy material on Allenâs computer they immediately notified patrolmen stationed near the storeâs location.
âBest Buy notified one of our patrolmen after seeing file names that indicated child pornography. This is the first time, since Iâve been here, in the cyber crimes divisions, that weâve made an arrest in this way. Best Buy handled the situation perfectlyâ, said detective Otis Almond.
According to various state and local authorities, Smith did not have a police record; officers are continuing their investigation, and when concluded, will charge Smith with a felony. Smithâs bail was set at $5,000, which he bonded out of Angelina County Jail earlier this week.
Best Buy issued a company-wide statement citing that the Geek Squad does not routinely rummage through peopleâs personal devices, but for this request (Smithâs wife asked for a hard drive transfer) the technical support staff was required to view the computerâs files. The company stated that if they do discover suspicious or illegal materials in the natural order of satisfying requests, they deem it their responsibility to inform local authorities.