Man arrested after Amazon Echo calls 911 during attack

A man was arrested after beating his girlfriend and threatening to kill her, and police say that they knew about the assault thanks to an Amazon Echo device in the home.

According to Bernalillo County sheriff’s spokeswoman Deputy Felicia Romero, Eduardo Barros was arrested on July 2 after an hours-long standoff with police.

Barros and his girlfriend were reportedly house-sitting for the victim’s parents when Barros became enraged, believing that his girlfriend was cheating on him. According to the criminal complaint against Barros, the assault began with a text message as Barros confronted his girlfriend with the cheating accusations and “stated he was going to kill her if she called the cops.”

— ‘Moonlight’ director developing ‘The Underground Railroad’ series for Amazon — 

But when he asked her, “Did you call the sheriff?” a nearby Amazon Echo device heard it and interpreted it as a request for the device to call the authorities. So, the device placed a call to 911, and a 911 dispatcher then called the girlfriend on her cell phone, though it is not clear how the 911 operator knew to call the woman’s cell phone.

“When 911 called (the victim’s) phone, Barros saw the caller ID and threw (the victim) to the floor. Barros then kicked her while on the ground at least 10 times in the face and stomach,” the complaint said.

Barros was arrested and is now facing 14 charges, including false imprisonment, aggravated battery against a household member and possession of a firearm by a felon.

“The unexpected use of this new technology to contact emergency services has possibly helped save a life. This amazing technology definitely helped save a mother and her child from a very violent situation,” said Sheriff Manuel Gonzales III in a statement provided to CNN.