iStockphoto / mel-nik
A teenager in Provo, Utah is facing multiple charges of Property Damage and stands accused of repeatedly taping fish to ATMs and once even taping a dead fish to a cop car, doing so all in the name of social media clout.
The Instagram account @fish_bandit84 has amassed nearly 89,000 followers all from posting videos of fish duct taped to ATMs, fish that appear to have been caught locally and not purchased at the grocery store.
According to ABC 4, the two charges of Property Damage “stemmed from the cost of cleanup” as someone was tasked each time with having to clean up the duct taped fish. One video where they posted with the caption “We support our local PD” shows what looks like a rainbow trout taped to the side of a police cruiser at night. That video picked up 30,000+ ‘likes’ in November.
Most of the videos look like this with the camera panning up to show a fish duct taped to an ATM. In this instance, it’s a carp with a cigarette stuffed in its mouth:
Another carp video:
Maybe it’s the mere fact that this has been happening in Utah but I’m getting extreme SLC Punk vibes from this ‘prank’.
Also, maybe it’s because I’ve been a lifelong carp hater but I don’t see anything particularly wrong with this so long as the teen actually went back and cleaned it up, which it appears didn’t happen according to ABC 4 News. If it was just for the videos and then the fish was eaten, I’d say no harm, no foul. But leaving a fish taped to an ATM overnight for someone else to clean up is not a chill move at all.
Because the suspect is 17-years-old, the case was turned over from the Provo PD to Juvenile Justice and Youth Services back in December. Property Damage in Utah is a second degree penalty when the damage is in excess of $5,000 which in this instance it clearly is not. So it would be a Class B Misdemeanor.