California Twins Charged for ‘Swatting,’ Staging Bank Robberies to Record Prank Videos for YouTube Channel

(The AEGIS Alliance) – SANTA ANA, CALIFORNIA – Twin brothers who run a popular YouTube channel have been charged with crimes involving staging fake bank robberies in Irvine and causing an innocent Uber driver to be held by police at gunpoint, according to a release by prosecutors on Wednesday.

Residents of Irvine, 23-year-olds Alex, and Alan Stokes are each facing one felony count of false imprisonment and a misdemeanor count of falsely reporting an emergency that is known as “Swatting,” according to a news release by the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.

Todd Spitzer, the district attorney, accused the two of placing police officers and the public in danger that he says was a “twisted attempt to gain more popularity on the internet.”

The twin brothers allegedly made two tries on October 15, 2019, at filming a bogus bank robbery. The pair were walking around while wearing all black, ski masks and carried duffel bags loaded with money, and pretended they robbed a bank, as their videographer filmed, investigators said according to KTLA.

The two called an Uber at about 2:30 p.m. and the driver refused to pick them up because he was not aware of the prank. A bystander who witnessed the unfolding events was under the impression that the Stokes brothers were attempting to carjack the driver. Irvine police responded to a call and ordered the driver to exit his vehicle at gunpoint, but the driver was later released after the officers discovered he wasn’t involved. Police had issued a warning to the Stokes brothers about their conduct, but they were released, the DA’s office said.

Four hours later, the twins attempted the same hoax on the UC Irvine campus, and police responded to emergency calls about a bank robbery, according to prosecutors.

Kyle James Lee – The AEGIS Alliance – This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.