KUCFChiefs
03-19-2008, 02:29 PM
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http://acorn.rgj.com/blogs/poweron/2008/03/three-arrested-in-youtube-del-taco-scam.html
NO SUCH THING AS A FREE TACO: Calling your local Del Taco while pretending to be a CEO whose order was botched may get you seven tacos, large fries, two sodas and two quesadillas with extra chicken. But for three California men who successfully pulled off the scam and posted video of their escapade online, it can also lead to a potential seven-year prison term.
Authorities arrested three men in relation to the YouTube video (featured above) titled "How To Scam Del Taco." Robert Echeverria and 18-year-old buddies Ian Anthony Roman and Brian Fawcett recently posted the "tutorial" online, scoring $15 worth of free food but also providing the very evidence authorities are now using against them. (Doh!)
According to the Press-Enterprise, the three have been charged for carrying out the scam to benefit a street gang. Echeverria's girlfriend, meanwhile, contends the charges are excessive and that police are making an example out of the aspiring rap artist, who also released a previous video cursing Rialto police and questioning the death of an officer last year. Authorities deny that the previous video had anything to do with the current charges. The prosecutor, meanwhile, described the Del Taco video as historic.
"I've been a prosecutor for 17 years and I've never seen a self-contained confession video by a defendant," said San Bernardino County Deputy DA Sully Moore.
Well, at least they got extra chicken. JASON HIDALGO
Would you like an attorney with that?
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2008/03/325.html
It looks like a silly prank intended to get laughs and attention on YouTube. Well, not only has “How to Scam Del Taco” gotten attention, but the video has also landed its star, a 32-year-old aspiring rapper from Rialto, in jail.
The Riverside Press-Enterprise reports that Robert Echeverria and two teenagers were arrested after authorities viewed the YouTube video of the trio tricking the crew of a Del Taco drive-through into giving them seven tacos, a large order of fries, two sodas and two quesadillas with extra chicken.
Unlike in some online videos that have shown fast-food workers being attacked, no one gets hurt in Echeverria's production. But prosecutors said the seven-minute clip provided the evidence they needed to press felony commercial burglary charges against Echeverria, who they claim has gang ties, and his accomplices. The two teen boys have posted bail, but Echeverria was unable to come up with enough money and has remained in jail. He was scheduled to appear in court today.
"We were fooling around," Ian Anthony Roman, who shot the video, told the Press-Enterprise. "We never intended it to be anything criminal. It was ridiculously blown out of proportion."
http://acorn.rgj.com/blogs/poweron/2008/03/three-arrested-in-youtube-del-taco-scam.html
NO SUCH THING AS A FREE TACO: Calling your local Del Taco while pretending to be a CEO whose order was botched may get you seven tacos, large fries, two sodas and two quesadillas with extra chicken. But for three California men who successfully pulled off the scam and posted video of their escapade online, it can also lead to a potential seven-year prison term.
Authorities arrested three men in relation to the YouTube video (featured above) titled "How To Scam Del Taco." Robert Echeverria and 18-year-old buddies Ian Anthony Roman and Brian Fawcett recently posted the "tutorial" online, scoring $15 worth of free food but also providing the very evidence authorities are now using against them. (Doh!)
According to the Press-Enterprise, the three have been charged for carrying out the scam to benefit a street gang. Echeverria's girlfriend, meanwhile, contends the charges are excessive and that police are making an example out of the aspiring rap artist, who also released a previous video cursing Rialto police and questioning the death of an officer last year. Authorities deny that the previous video had anything to do with the current charges. The prosecutor, meanwhile, described the Del Taco video as historic.
"I've been a prosecutor for 17 years and I've never seen a self-contained confession video by a defendant," said San Bernardino County Deputy DA Sully Moore.
Well, at least they got extra chicken. JASON HIDALGO
Would you like an attorney with that?
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2008/03/325.html
It looks like a silly prank intended to get laughs and attention on YouTube. Well, not only has “How to Scam Del Taco” gotten attention, but the video has also landed its star, a 32-year-old aspiring rapper from Rialto, in jail.
The Riverside Press-Enterprise reports that Robert Echeverria and two teenagers were arrested after authorities viewed the YouTube video of the trio tricking the crew of a Del Taco drive-through into giving them seven tacos, a large order of fries, two sodas and two quesadillas with extra chicken.
Unlike in some online videos that have shown fast-food workers being attacked, no one gets hurt in Echeverria's production. But prosecutors said the seven-minute clip provided the evidence they needed to press felony commercial burglary charges against Echeverria, who they claim has gang ties, and his accomplices. The two teen boys have posted bail, but Echeverria was unable to come up with enough money and has remained in jail. He was scheduled to appear in court today.
"We were fooling around," Ian Anthony Roman, who shot the video, told the Press-Enterprise. "We never intended it to be anything criminal. It was ridiculously blown out of proportion."