Top 10 Times YouTubers Got Arrested

#10: Jake Paul

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Arrested During Riots The Paul brothers are no strangers to legal trouble. In 2017, Logan was arrested in Italy for flying his drone over historic sites. Not to be outdone, in 2018 little brother Jake was sued for $2.5 million for property damage to his rental home. Then in 2020, during the George Floyd protests, he was present during a riot in a mall in Scottsdale, Arizona, leading to charges of criminal trespassing and unlawful assembly. He claimed he was filming for a future project. The case culminated in the FBI raiding his mansion, after which the charges were dropped.

Toothpaste Oreos Pranks can be a fun way to mess around with your friends. It’s a different matter entirely, however, when you target a vulnerable stranger. ReSet was a Spanish gaming and challenge YouTuber. In 2017 he decided he was going to prank a homeless man sitting on the street, feeding him Oreos that had the cream replaced with toothpaste. The man threw up after ingesting them, so Kanghua gave the victim €20 and then uploaded the video. Naturally, it received a lot of backlash. The prankster wasn’t remorseful at all in initial interviews, and was eventually arrested. In 2019, he was banned from YouTube, ordered to pay €20,000 to the man, and sentenced to 15 months in prison.

Offensive Joke In 2016, Scottish YouTuber Mark Meechan, aka Count Dankula, decided it would be funny to upload a video of himself training his girlfriend’s pug to perform a Nazi salute. He also riled the dog up into reacting to an offensive, anti-Semitic question. This led to his arrest for being “grossly offensive”, which sparked public debates about freedom of speech. Meechan claimed that the video was just supposed to make his girlfriend laugh; but the court found that this “lacked credibility” since his girlfriend wasn’t subscribed to his channel. He was ordered to pay a £800 fine, but refused, instead donating the same amount to the Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity. However, £800 was later seized from his bank account.

Pokémon GO to Orthodox Church Pokémon GO was a craze that swept the world, encouraging kids and adults alike to travel their local areas while trying to catch their favorite Pokémon. The Russian government would prefer that you not catch them all, however—at least, not in church. The Russian media had warned that playing Pokémon GO on holy sites could result in jail time. But Russian YouTuber Ruslan Sokolovsky actively challenged this, going to Yekaterinburg’s Church of All Saints, and broadcasting his adventure to his followers. The YouTuber was given a suspended sentence of 3 and a half years for “inciting religious hatred”.

Fake Art Robbery The members of this UK prank group have been arrested on several occasions over the years. In 2015, they donned tights over their heads and created a panic at the National Portrait and Tate Britain Galleries. Along with a speaker blaring alarm sounds, they shouted and acted like they were stealing paintings, terrifying the patrons and sending them running. The goal was to get a reaction out of the crowds, which… they sure did. The stunt resulted in members of the group being arrested, charged and given jail time for the havoc they caused.

Trespassing Vitaly Zdorovetskiy is a prankster notorious for causing a scene. He’s even collaborated with Roman Atwood to fake an ATM robbery, which resulted in the two getting arrested! And that wasn't the last time Zdorovetskiy got in trouble. When on his own, it’s usually because he’s somewhere he’s not supposed to be. From streaking during the 2014 FIFA World Cup Final, 2016 NBA Finals, and 2017 World Series, to climbing the Hollywood sign, he’s made a career out of breaking the rules. But none of those compare to the time he really peaked. The peak in question? One of the pyramids of Giza, which he climbed to the top of when visiting in 2020. The stunt landed him in jail for five days.

Drug Felony Charges Alexander Wachs was a gaming streamer who was used to police kicking down his door, but not through any fault of his own. While streaming DayZ in 2014, Wachs quickly disappeared from his desk, only for an officer to come into frame with a dog sniffing around. Turns out he was Swatted. This was the third time that month that Alex and his housemate Kelly Popp had false reports called on them, but this time it ended badly. Marijuana was found on the property, prompting the YouTuber’s arrest. He wasn’t charged in the end, and the experience does not seem to have turned him off the green stuff.

Fake Death Leads to Abuse Allegations Jason Matthew Ethier was a Canadian YouTuber who became infamous for his pranks and staged 3AM challenges. In 2018, he was arrested at Walt Disney World for trespassing and resisting arrest, but much worse was to come. In 2020, he announced that his girlfriend Alexia Marano had been killed in an accident with a drunk driver. He proceeded to make several videos milking her death for views where he visited the crash site, and even tried to talk to her ghost. But she wasn’t dead and the YouTube community was outraged. Marano left him and accused him of abuse, leading to his arrest and charges of assault and assault with a weapon. He and Marano ended up reuniting soon after, but not for long.

Warning Shot Steven Jay Williams, aka Boogie2988, is a veteran creator on Youtube, having become famous for his character Francis and later his commentary videos. In 2020 fellow Youtuber Frank Hassle began harassing Boogie, believing that Boogie was responsible for his channel's termination. The situation became particularly concerning after Hassle travelled to Boogie’s hometown. In an interview with Keemster, Boogie threatened to kill Hassle if he stepped onto his property. Well, Hassle did it anyway, screaming abuse, and Boogie fired off a warning shot. He was later arrested on the charge of aggravated assault. Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions. Prince Zee, Fake Medical Emergency Times Square Officers Tried to Save a Life That Wasn’t in Danger GasKings, Scamming Pensioners Anthony Locke Was Jailed for Defrauding the Elderly Germán Abraham Loera Acosta, Kidnapping The Motivational YouTuber Held Woman Hostage for Bitcoin Ransom Daniel Silva, Murder The Ink Master Contestant Was Arrested for a Car Collision That Killed Corey La Barrie Monalisa Perez, Encyclopedic Stunt The YouTuber Killed Her Boyfriend While Testing If a Book Can Stop a Bullet

Child Endangerment Holly Piazza and Brian Chase were the adults behind the camera of the many adventures of 9-year-old Rocco Piazza. During one of their videos, he and his nanny were buried neck-deep in water and Orbeez in the back of a pickup truck. The problem came when his mother drove them out onto a main road. Cars sped by as the pair bobbed around in the back. This video, along with another where Holly dumped all the plastic balls on a public road, caught the attention of local law enforcement. The couple was arrested for misdemeanor child endangerment and charged the cost of the subsequent clean-up.