Would you like an attorney with that? *

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."

-- Jesus Sanchez

* A previous version of this post incorrectly attributed the last quote to Echeverria.

Comments

[GCue]

While I agree this is wrong, how is it stealing ?
The Del Taco manager gave them the food without asking for a reciept or even for the incorrect food. Nothing was stolen .... it was given.

[Robert Bowie]

This has to be the oldest trick in the book. When I lived in Hollywood half the people who set foot in restaurants tried the same scam, including local industry types (My secretary placed a big order here last week that you screwed up in some way, now please give me my free grub, etc).
My favorite was a guy who made his living telling restaurants that his "wife" last week paid for an order with a fifty dollar bill and only recieved change for a twenty. This never seemed to fail, although strangely I never saw him tell the restaurant his "wife" paid with a hundred (gee, I wonder why). These poseurs need to learn that burglary (yes, goes to intent) and petit larceny are felonies in California. State Prison for them all and let's hope thier every meal is Mexican.