Update 4/14/2021: This article was updated to correct a factual error reporting the twins as Irvine residents.
Alan and Alex Stokes, twin brothers who run an eponymous YouTube channel based on prank content, have pleaded guilty to charges after conducting a series of pranks for their YouTube channel involving fake bank robberies on Oct. 15, 2019 — one of which took place at the University of California, Irvine.
They agreed to plead guilty in response to a bargain plea according to the Orange County District Attorney’s (OCDA) office, after being charged with one misdemeanor count each for false imprisonment and two misdemeanor counts of reporting a false emergency.
Their pleas come after a judge reduced the false imprisonment charge from a felony to a misdemeanor, which originally would have sentenced the brothers to a maximum of 5 years in jail if convicted on all counts.
According to a press release from the OCDA, the Stokes brothers reportedly wore black clothing and ski masks while carrying bags of large amounts of cash, pretending to have just robbed a bank while their videographer filmed them.
The brothers then allegedly proceeded to order an Uber and ran toward it while continuing to be filmed. The driver, who was unaware of the prank, refused to drive them upon arrival. A bystander thought the incident was a potential carjacking effort, believing the two brothers had indeed robbed a bank.
When Irvine police arrived on the scene, the driver was then held at gunpoint by law enforcement and forced out of the car before being released once it was found that he was not involved in the prank.
While police dismissed the brothers with a warning for dangerous conduct, they were found four hours later conducting a similar prank on the UC Irvine campus, prompting more emergency calls.
“These crimes could have easily resulted in someone being seriously hurt or killed,” OCDA Todd Spitzer said in the press release. “An active bank robbery is not a casual police response and these police officers were literally risking their lives to help people they believed were in danger. It is irresponsible and reckless that these two individuals cared more about increasing their number of followers on the internet than the safety of those police officers or the safety of the innocent Uber driver who was ordered out of his car at gunpoint.”
The Stokes brothers have been sentenced to 160 hours of community service each, a year of probation and financial restitution. They were also ordered to stay away from UC Irvine’s premises.
Ariana Keshishian is a City News Apprentice for the spring 2021 quarter. She can be reached at ankeshis@uci.edu.
