TikTok Stars Facing Jail Time After Bank Robbery Prank
Aside from Instagram, TikTok has been massive platform for aspiring influencers over the pas few months. In fact, it has even launched several famous figures like Charli D'Amelio, Chase Hudson, and twins Alan and Alex Stokes.
Unfortunately, the 23-year-old Stoke brothers made it to the headlines for the wrong reasons after a bank robbery prank gone bad.
Tiktok Twins Alan and Alex Stokes Charged With Felony and Misdemeanor
The wildly popular TikTok twins, who currently have 25 million followers on the video-sharing app, were arrested for staging two fake bank robberies for their viral video.
The California natives were charged with one count of felony for false imprisonment, as well as one count of misdemeanor over reporting a false emergency.
If proven guilty, the Stokes twins might face up to four years in state prison.
According to the press release by the Orange County District Attorney, the said charges were linked to their prank which was committed in October 2019.
"Twin brothers who star in YouTube videos featuring pranks on unsuspecting people have been charged with false imprisonment and swatting," the statement read. "Alan and Alex Stokes, 23 of Irvine, have been each charged with one felony count of false imprisonment affected by violence, menace, fraud, or deceit and one misdemeanor count of falsely reporting an emergency in connection with the October 15, 2019 pranks."
As part of their social media spoof and to gain millions of views, the duo -- who were dressed in black while wearing ski masks -- pretended to run from a bank with a duffel bag filled with money.
The TikTok stars then called an Uber but the driver, who was completely unaware of their act, thought that it was a real robbery and refused to accept the ride.
Moreover, a witness called the police assuming that there was an ongoing crime and that the twins were attempting to carjack the Uber.
The Irvine police then arrived and held the driver at gunpoint before being released later on.
Stokes Twins Staged Second Bank Robbery Prank
The officers gave the Youtube stars a warning over their spoof. They were also released the same day.
Hours after, the police received several calls and learned that the Stokes twins staged a similar prank at the University of California campus.
In the same statement, Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer pointed out that "these were not pranks" but crimes.
"These are crimes that could have resulted in someone getting seriously injured or even killed. Law enforcement officers are sworn to protect the public and when someone calls 911 to report an active bank robbery they are going to respond to protect lives. Instead, what they found was some kind of twisted attempt to gain more popularity on the internet by unnecessarily putting members of the public and police officers in danger," he mentioned.
The then-deleted Youtube video tiled "BANK ROBBER PRANK! (gone wrong)" gained over 1 million views before being flagged by the site.
