Fake kidnapping video shows stunt that angered Sequim parents

Sequim, WA — Police said at least two adults faked the kidnapping of their own child while angry neighbors rushed to stop it, and the video that was removed from YouTube has resurfaced again online.

What makes it worse is the fake kidnapping briefly appeared online, leaving some good Samaritans feeling duped.

"What's up guys? Today I'm going to go see if I can pay somebody $30,000 to kill my wife,” said a man into a camera.

That is the kind of “prank” the Holden brothers pull on their YouTube channel, and not everybody is laughing.

In another video, a man responding to a Craigslist car ad certainly doesn't think it's funny when someone starts screaming from inside the trunk, and Tiffany Barnett was sobbing after her worst nightmare into what appears to be another joke.

"He pulled up right here from this direction, slid the door open and jumped and ran straight over there to pick up the kid-- I mean full-on sprint,” she told us, standing where the incident happened Saturday in a Sequim park.

Two masked men in a minivan snatched a little boy while Tiffany was playing at the park with her daughter.

"I ran as fast as I could, I was panicked, terrified, just feeling awful for this little boy,” Tiffany said. She said she felt like a failure when she couldn't get a license plate number.  She learned moments later the brothers behind the YouTube video had called 911 to report their prank beforehand.  The boy's mom was in on it, too.

"You've got to be kidding me,” Tiffany remembered saying to the woman.

Of course police never gave the OK for the stunt and responded in force.

"They have to assume the worst case when they respond,” Sequim police Chief Bill Dickinson explained.

The pranksters told officers the video was about kidnapping prevention, but that doesn't really jibe with the rest of the YouTube videos they produced.

And since these guys are fans of candid camera, KIKRO 7  went to their house in Port Angeles, but no one was there or reachable at the Tacoma pawn shop they run.

A 17 second preview was removed but resurfaced again early Wednesday.

The police chief admitted he's not sure a crime has been committed. There is one city ordinance that addresses putting people's lives in danger but he thinks that might be a stretch in this particular case.  Still, the chief said they will investigate and turn over what they find to prosecutors. KIRO 7 will let you know if they file any charges.

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