Local DJ arrested for hoax

[JayS]

Local DJ arrested for hoax
7/7/2004 3:26 PM
By: News 8 Austin Staff
http://www.news8austin.com/content/top_stories/default.asp?ArID=112290



The Austin Police Department arrested a local radio disc jockey for pulling a stunt that got him charged with making a terroristic threat.

Dan Chappell, a DJ for KISS 96.7 FM radio, known on the air as Lunchbox, wore a stocking cap over his head when he walked into the Everytime Food Mart at 2105 South Congress.

As part of the hoax, he bought a pack of gum and left the store.

The employee at the food mart called the police, not knowing that the stocking cap stunt was a hoax for the radio station.

*SNIP*

[Catch22Dem]

1. What?

Arrested for paying for his items and leaving? Fucking amazing.

[JayS]

4. He is actually lucky to be alive. The area he chose to pull...

...his little stunt in gets robbed fairly often by people that do pretty much exactly what he did.

[Jack_DeLeon]

6. I dont think so.

I'm sure the people that rob the store do a little bit more than what he did, namely demanding all thier money and whatnot.

If he didnt threaten anyone and just bought something and left then I dont see how he committed a crime.

[JayS]

7. I meant coming into the store with the stocking already down...

...over his head. The local radio news says he was acting out the part a bit also, which caused the clerk to hit the panic button right away.

[gatlingforme]

8. unless you called up the clerk and asked him what he thought

in a situation that he was "put in", then I don't think you can ascertain what the situation called for. Hindsight is great especially when you are sitting in your chair typing your synopsis.

[thatgemguy]

2. Working for a KISS station???

Just another stupid Clear Channel hack.

Hope he gets the book thrown at him!

[MrBenchley]

3. Wow....

Must be a laff riot over there lunch times at KISS...

[NorthernSpy]

5. I forecast much ensuing hullaballoo over the DJ's "freedom of speech"

Some KKKlear Channel dumbass has gone too far and gotten squelched, and I refuse to get all indignant over it. Didn't give a toss when Howard Stern and Bill Maher got the boot from their comfortable little roosts, either.

Broadcasting in this country is mostly in the hands of reactionary loudmouths; sometimes, a slightly more libertarian reactionary loudmouth such as Stern or Maher fails to please his master and suffers the consequences. No skin off mine when that happens, as my side hasn't actually lost anything. Outfits like Clear Channel don't let progressives on the air anyway.

The broadcast spectrum is public property, but only corporations and billionaires get to use it. The rest of us are expected to care mightily about the right to "free speech" of the privileged few who have access to broadcast media, while accepting without complaint the complete exclusion of our own voices and interests from that exalted realm. Screw that!

:eyes:


Mary

[skippythwndrdog]

9. Call the Fashion Police!

He'll probably get a life sentence without parole for wearing winter clothing out of season.

It wasn't a terribly bright thing to do - I'll grant that. It certainly is no reason for arrest - unless austin has one of those "No Mask" laws. Even then, it should only be a misdemeanor citation.

[NorthernSpy]

10. I dunno, skippy

I don't necessarily argue that the charge in this case is the proper one, but I'm also not sure that the law may not prohibit dressing in ways that make other people fear for their lives. Entering a shop dressed as a robber (which was clearly what this man intended to be taken for) or wearing a biohazard suit might be seen as similar to shouting fire in a crowded theatre -- endangering people by wantonly causing a panic.

Mary

[JayS]

11. He is in some pretty deep trouble. Needless to say, the police...

...were not amused. I agree with the one officer that said something to the effect of "those kind of activities can get a person killed".

[TX-RAT]

12. those kind of activities can get a person killed".

Especially if the person behind the counter had a weapon. That joke could have went sideways real quick.

[JayS]

13. A little more on the story.

State & Local | 7/9/2004
Local DJ takes prank too far, ends up arrested
Store clerk calls police after DJ walks in masked
By Susan Shepard
http://www.dailytexanonline.com/news/2004/07/09/StateLocal/Local.Dj.Takes.Prank.Too.Far.Ends.Up.Arrested-692426.shtml

Outlandish stunts are part of most morning disc jockey's repertoires, but they don't usually land the perpetrators in jail. That changed Wednesday when a KISS 96.7 FM DJ was arrested at a South Austin convenience store for one of his morning show pranks.

Known professionally as "Lunchbox," Dan Chappell entered the Every Time Food Mart on South Congress wearing a stocking mask over his face to buy a pack of gum.

As Chappell approached the counter, the clerk, Atif Akhlaque, hit the silent alarm button to summon the police.

Chappell, 22, was charged with making a terroristic threat, a Class B misdemeanor.

"That charge has nothing to do with terrorism," said Kevin Buchman, a spokesperson for the Austin Police Department. "For example, if I threaten to do physical damage to you, I can be charged with a terroristic threat. I terrorized you, and you felt threatened."

*SNIP*

Akhlaque said he disapproved of the prank because similar situations could have ended badly.

"It's very common knowledge that convenience stores carry guns for safety purposes," he said. "They could jeopardize a listener's life if they ask a listener to attempt something like this."

[LibLabUK]

14. *scratches head*

"That charge has nothing to do with terrorism," said Kevin Buchman, a spokesperson for the Austin Police Department. "For example, if I threaten to do physical damage to you, I can be charged with a terroristic threat. I terrorized you, and you felt threatened."

Holy mangled language, Batman!

Surely a "terroristic" threat is just plain ol' assault?

But wearing a pair of tights on one's head?

[JayS]

15. The "terroristic" in this case is from language in place long...

...before even the 1993 WTC bombing. It is just a plain vanilla form of "terrorism" where you say or do something to cause terror in another person. You mostly hear about it in bomb threats and such.