Comedian Randy Liedtke had a funny idea for a prank.
He would bake a bunch of cookies, frost them to look like iPhones, and drive around Los Angeles until the cops pulled him over.
He even had a response ready to go:
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Pretty great! And eventually he was pulled over by the cops — but the officer in question was having none of it.
Apparently that's where his elaborate cookie scheme began to unravel.
Liedtke's Twitter account then went quiet. About 10 hours later he re-emerged, posting this photo:
Lesson learned, right?
There are, however, a few suspicious plot holes. An NBC Los Angeles reporter, suspecting the whole thing might be a fabrication, said both the LAPD and the L.A. County Sheriff's Department refused to substantiate or refute Liedtke's claims. Liedtke himself did not respond to comment.
But let's examine the evidence against him:
- In the selfie with the cop car behind him taken at 1:36 p.m., there are no flashing police lights. Don't police usually leave their lights on after pulling you over?
- This tweet reads to me as suspicious. Ask yourself: If you were a cop having your authority challenged, would you walk away?
- All of the incriminating photos could have been staged, particularly the last of him holding a blurry ticket. (Which doesn't look like a ticket.)
- In the tweet where he says he has a warrant for unpaid parking tickets, he says the cop is letting him text his girlfriend. Normally, I'm told, you aren't allowed to touch your phone.
- Why would you drop the cookie on the ground and litter in front of a police officer?
- If it is indeed a well-executed hoax, it wouldn't be Liedtke's first. The comedian tricked the internet earlier this year with a fake twitter account. The charade landed him a guest appearance on NPR, according to his Facebook page.
So: Is Liedtke's cookie adventure nothing more than another tall tale spun for the Twitter generation? We'll likely find out soon enough.
