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Kidnapping prank lands five Australian men in hot water

An internet prank has earned five young Perth men a date with the courts after their antics sparked a major police inquiry.

There are some people who measure a prank’s success by the laughter it evokes. There are others who consider any attention good attention, even if it comes from a group of un-amused police officers.

Five young men from Perth, Australia are this year’s winners in the latter category after a kidnapping prank they staged last September resulted in a concerned bystander calling 911.

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As ABC News reports, the pranksters pulled up to a busy intersection and waited for a red light, at which point one of the men, wearing nothing but boxers and a pair of handcuffs, jumped out of the trunk of the car and made a mad dash for it.

Another man jumped out of the vehicle and chased him into the nearby bush. Shenanigans ensued, all conveniently caught on tape.

That’s because the pranksters had set up several cameras to capture the action with the intention of adding the video to the group’s arsenal of similarly out-there pranks.

Except they didn’t count on the fact that the stunned witnesses watching the event unfold would freak out and call 911, believing they were in the midst of a real-life reenactment of The Game.

After a lengthy investigation that was certainly aided by the video's presence on YouTube, Perth police managed to track down the men, all of whom are between the ages of 21-25 and can therefore be considered biological adults.

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For their next video, the men will appear in court on charges of creating a false belief.