Pranks to Prison: YouTuber Removes Stop Signs, Gets Arrested, Asks Fans for Defense Money

'The particular intersection had not had a stop sign at it for 18 years of my life,' explained Charles Ross in a recent YouTube video. This was months after Ross, AKA Rosscreations, told his 500,000 followers that 'as a self-appointed city traffic flow coordinator, I think it's time now to remove some of these unnecessary stop signs.'
That first explanation was part of a plea for donations to fund his criminal defense -- Ross was arrested on felony grand theft charges, which could land him in prison for five years. Apparently crime and YouTube pranks don't pay. Ross claims he doesn't "have much money for legal fees or a lawyer."
YouPrank
No one was hurt after Ross removed stop signs from a three-way intersection in Bradenton, Florida. But that didn't stop deputies from arrived on his doorstep and placing him in handcuffs. In his crowdfunding video, Ross Claims he's been in jail for days and charged with grand theft, a third-degree felony.
And, as WTSP in Tampa reports, this isn't Ross's first run-in with the law:
In 2013, he was arrested and pleaded guilty for giving strangers wedgies. He was arrested again that same year for streaking at a Rays game. He pleaded no contest.
Bradenton police, who are familiar with Ross because of previous pranks, hope he stops before he puts any more lives in danger.
"I care about people, and I don't want people to get hurt," Ross told 10News in a somewhat remorseful phone call, "and if I do a bad idea, I want to own up to it and not make that same mistake twice." Perhaps his mistake was not saving up enough for a lawyer before pulling the prank.
Related Resources:
- YouTube Prankster Charles Ross' Fun Came to a Stop ...Sign, Cops Say (Sun-Sentinel)
- 'Viral' Lamborghini Poop Prank Ends in Taser Attack (FindLaw's Legally Weird)
- 'Russian Hitman Prank' Gets Prankster Arrested (FindLaw's Legally Weird)
- Is It Illegal to Mail Poop? (FindLaw's Legally Weird)