Police responded to what they thought was an emergency in Times Square – only to find a YouTuber trying to find a man apparently faking it for the clout. Chris Glorioso report.
He did it for the clout, but this YouTuber now has a criminal record and maybe even put his future in doubt.
A man was arrested Thursday afternoon after pretending to be passed out inside his vehicle in Times Square, police sources said. He appeared to be having some sort of medical emergency, seemingly unconscious in the driver's seat of his car as the car horn was going off the whole time, according to police sources.
Officers and EMS busted in the driver side window in an effort to save the driver, sources said. But a video posted to YouTube shows the whole thing was set up.
The video, posted to the account Princezee on Monday, shows the suspect, place a camera in the car to record the whole thing. Once he "passes out," police were seen quickly coming to help the man they believed to be requiring assistance, breaking in multiple windows in order to provide aid.
They pulled him out of the car and onto the street, where the man, later identified as Zeeshan Saroya, became alert once again. An ambulance rushed to the scene to help treat Saroya, but he says later in the video that he was allowed to leave as long as he didn't drive.
NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea tweeted about the incident, calling it a "dangerous stunt that took NYC first responders away from other NYers in actual distress," that was done to "gain followers."
Saroya was arrested around 2:45 Thursday, and charged with making a false report and obstructing governmental administration. He was released after receiving a desk appearance ticket.
At the end of the video posted online, Saroya suggested the hoax was a type of test of the NYPD's response time.
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"Shout out to all the NYPD and ambulance for taking action. I think that's the most important thing for this video. You guys will probably hate me for this video," he said, going on to say that he hoped their quick reactions would being them "good karma."
