Robert McMillan & Jenny Strasburg:

Kurtaj was arrested a third time and charged with hacking, fraud and blackmail. Authorities said that while at the Travelodge, he broke into Uber and taunted the company by posting a link to a photo of an erect penis on the company’s internal Slack messaging system, then stole software and videos from Rockstar Games. Stolen clips had popped up in a “Grand Theft Auto” discussion forum from a user named teapotuberhacker and stirred a frenzy.

As officers collected evidence, the teen stood by, emotionless, police say. During his stay, he was polite and shy, said Susanne Langford, the hotel manager. “He was very quiet, didn’t interact with people much,” she said. Langford, who has a son with autism, said she recognized traits of it in Kurtaj.

Police knocked on his mother’s door to tell her that they’d just arrested her son again. For years, according to court records, she had struggled to keep her son on a path that provided schooling and other support. He had limited social skills and trouble developing relationships, records say—and ultimately looked for approval in the booming world of cybercrime.