Ohio teen accused of staging robbery of mother as ‘prank’ for YouTube
CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio (WCMH) — An Ohio teen and some of his friends are in hot water after allegedly staging an armed robbery of the teen’s mother.
Police in Cleveland Heights say the 17-year-old and three friends pulled a ‘prank’ on his mother by putting on ski masks and confronting the 40-year-old woman in her driveway, WJW reported.
Investigators say the three friends ordered the woman into her house, pointed a gun at her head, told her to get on the floor and demanded money. The 17-year-old then staged a fight with the intruders, during which the mother ran out of the house.
The teen then called 911.
“I just did a fake robbery prank on my mom and she ran. I know she called the police. She’s nowhere to be found,” the teen told a 911 dispatcher. “I just don’t want the police to come here aggressive, if you get what I’m saying.”
The dispatcher then asked, “You did a fake robbery prank on your mother?”
The teen responded, “Yeah, but she thought it was for real. Like when I got to wrestling my friends for fake, she ran out of the house.”
At the same time, a homeowner on a neighboring street called 911 to report that a woman in distress was hiding on his porch and asking for help.
“I’ve got a lady that knocked on my door and she’s hiding on my porch like someone was chasing her or something, and she said ‘hurry, hurry’, she’s kind of mouthing out the word ‘hurry’. I didn’t open the door and let her in because I don’t know what’s going on, but she sees me on the phone right now calling you guys and I think she was in danger out here,” the concerned resident told the dispatcher.
The teen said he did it for YouTube.
“I do YouTube. It was on YouTube, so I did a YouTube prank,” he told a dispatcher.
The teen and one of his friends are facing juvenile charges. Two adults, 19-year-old Isaiah Welch and 18-year-old Jeramy Perry, are facing charges that include inducing panic.
Investigators say the only weapon found at the scene was an Airsoft pistol.