Who is Heston James? TikToker reportedly faces up to 9 years in jail over prank

TikTok influencer Heston James is reportedly facing up to nine years of jail time for indulging in business-disrupting pranks for months. Heston, whose real name is Heston Cobb, had been partaking in a series of pranks that involved him disrupting businesses in Arizona.

The TikToker, who has over 1.6 million followers on TikTok, was arrested at his home, as per a statement by the Tempe City Police Department. Allegedly, he would often enter stores alongside a group of other men, all of them dressed as employees.

Subsequently, they would enter employee-only areas and refuse to leave the premises despite being asked to do so by the actual workers. The Tempe Police Department noted in its statement that the videos made through these pranks potentially generated a large amount of income for the TikToker owing to the millions of views the videos accumulated.

Heston James is reportedly facing 13 criminal charges owing to his streak of business-disrupting pranks

TikToker Heston James is reportedly facing up to nine years in jail (Image via teraclout/Instagram)

Heston James had become a TikTok sensation after indulging in business-disrupting pranks across stores such as Pep Boys, Hyland Auto Repair, Big Brand Tire & Service, Jiffy Lube, and Chipotle between March and July.

While several individuals had been involved in the pranks, Heston was identified as the leader of the prank by the Tempe Police Department, who reportedly combed through his social media to identify him as the perpetrator.

After the 21-year-old was arrested at his home on July 23 and served with a search warrant, he was charged with a total of thirteen counts, which included:

• 1 count of Burglary in the Third Degree
• 2 counts of Criminal Impersonation
• 5 counts of Disorderly Conduct
• 5 counts of Criminal Trespass

Some of the pranks Heston James indulged in included him entering a Chipotle outlet while impersonating a cleaning crew, while his prank at the Hyland Auto Repair store involved him telling staff he was a corporate worker and encouraging other perpetrators to crawl under the cars of customers at the store.

If he is handed the maximum punishment under Arizona law, he faces up to a total of nine years in prison alongside a fine of $315,000. The investigation is still open, and police are expected to identify other individuals partaking in the pranks as well.

In other news, following the recent shutdown announcement of VShojo's shutdown, the company's former employee MowtenDoo is facing allegations of being "creepy" towards VTubers, with popular streaming stars such as Veibae and Nyatasha Nyanners coming forward to publicly speak out against MowtenDoo.

Edited by Adarsh J Kumar