By Angie DiMichele
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. — What started as a prank ended with the arrest of a popular YouTuber who planned a fake 911 call in a video for his social media platform, Coral Springs Police said.
In the nearly-20-minute video called “Coke Prank On Aggressive Cops!” recorded on Jan. 27, Jason Cid, 21, is seen sitting in the driver’s seat of his orange Mercedes-Benz as he tells a man on the phone with 911 dispatchers what to say.
The entire 911 call that afternoon was recorded by cameras inside Cid’s car, police said. The North Lauderdale resident has amassed over 2 million YouTube followers on his channel King Cid.
The video starts with a caller, whom police did not name, reporting “weird suspicious activities” at the Mobil gas station in the 1300 block of North University Drive.
Cid then mutes the caller’s line and tells him to say, “He has a black hoodie. He keeps getting in and out,” the video shows, as Cid smiles and gives a thumbs-up while looking at the camera.
The unknown caller walked away from Cid’s car and out of the recording before officers arrived.
When the first officer arrived at the gas station, Cid and the two other passengers — Jamiah Lubin and Jepethe Verdieu — pretended they were surprised, asking the officer if there was an issue and being uncooperative with the officer’s questioning, the video shows.
Lubin, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, says, “I’m not going to jail for you.” Cid told the officer he was nervous because they were approached “with no explanation,” the video shows.
Appearing worried, Lubin throws his hands up and says, “We got stuff in the car, bro” and looks into the camera.
Cid, Lubin and Verdieu willingly got out of the car when asked, and officers held their hands behind their backs while they were patted down. Officers then walked them over to a nearby curb where they sat while officers investigated.
Several minutes later, Cid allowed officers to search the trunk, where Lubin said they would find “coke,” an arrest affidavit says.
The officer found a red blanket with several cans of Coca-Cola underneath, the affidavit says. The video, which had more than 600,000 views Friday, ends with Cid laughing, smashing two soda cans together and spraying them.
Coral Springs Police said four officers responded to the gas station, and the fake call delayed responses to seven “true emergency calls for service” during the 45 minutes they were there.
Chief Clyde Parry said in a video Friday that Cid hoped to capture “out-of-control cops, harassing three young men’’ with his video and that the three were “glorifying non-compliance.”
“While these officers were tied up on a made-up call, they were unavailable to respond to vehicle accidents, EMS calls like heart attacks and other real emergencies,” Parry said. “What if it were your family member that needed the services and the closest officer to your emergency was tied up on this fictitious call?”
January’s incident was not the first time Coral Springs Police encountered Cid. One officer who responded to the gas station recognized him.
“I know you. You’re Jason. How’s YouTube?” the officer said, according to the affidavit.
In October 2019, Coral Springs officers arrested Cid on disorderly conduct and culpable negligence charges for an incident he orchestrated at the Coral Square Mall for his “social experiment” video, the affidavit says.
Several 911 callers reported a fight at the mall and that someone was covered in blood was possibly shot or stabbed. Officers expected a mass casualty incident, the affidavit says, and Cid ran toward officers on the scene with fake blood covering his shirt and legs.
He later told officers he covered himself in the fake blood to see how people would react and to gain more social media followers, the affidavit says.
Cid is facing a felony charge of misuse of a 911 system. He was released on a $2,500 bond, the affidavit says.
The investigation is ongoing and there may be additional arrests, a statement from the police department said.
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