Police in Provo, Utah have busted the perp allegedly responsible for a bizarre spate of “crimes” in which real, dead fish were found taped to ATMs and other local property. An unidentified 17-year-old is facing two misdemeanor property damage charges after officers determined he was the mastermind behind the fishy occurrences, NBC’s KSL TV reported.
It all began on September 26, when police were summoned to the Bonneville Bank with reports of a fish taped to the front of one of their ATM machines. As officers dug deeper into the case, they discovered an Instagram called “fish_bandit84” where the hardened criminal was touting his offenses. His bio reads, “Live, laugh, tape fish on ATMs 🐠🏧 No fish were harmed in the process.” The page, which is still active, made its first post 23 weeks ago and has amassed 52.4K followers.
The perpetrator managed an admirable number of pranks in their relatively short career. Posts show fish taped to a number of ATMs in America, in addition to machines in Guatemala, Japan, and Montreal. In some of the shots, the fish is made to look rather debonair, a cigarette dangling loosely from its pouting lips. In a less tasteful post, he showcases a fish he’s taped to the inside door of a restroom stall.
@fish_bandit84 Careful for phishing scams #fish #fishing #fishtok #atm #bank #fyp #batman
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Instagram stories pinned to the fish_bandit84 page appear to show the aftermath of the Bonneville Bank job, shot from a passing car. Another, rather chillingly, shows a number of dead fish lined up on a table.
KSL reviewed court documents which refer to since-deleted videos, including a Reels post in which a fish can apparently be seen taped to a Provo police cruiser. “Don’t tag the department,” the merry prankster reportedly instructed followers.
Yet it seems word got around anyway, and in December police issued a search warrant in the hopes of identifying the account’s owner. Once the plot was uncovered, the young man was referred to Provo’s Juvenile Justice and Youth Services. The two charges he’s facing are due to the costs of clean-up, according to officials who spoke with ABC.
Officials specified to KSL that they’re not aware of any deeper message the 17-year-old may have had in taping the fish to public spaces. They admit that the pranks caused very little physical damage, and are fairly convinced that it was intended as a joke all along.
Regardless of how the case turns out in court, you can be certain someone’s mother is very disappointed about all of this.
from Men's Journal https://ift.tt/Oj4vUp3
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