- A trio of influencers implied they'd been arrested while filming a video in Georgia.
- But fans of the group expressed skepticism of photos and video of the arrests.
Last week, three racing influencers posted a series of photos and videos that appeared to show them being arrested, but a Georgia sheriff's office revealed that it is, in fact, working with the influencers for an upcoming video.
Insider previously reported that YouTuber WhistlinDiesel, whose real name is Cody Detwiler, content creator Justin Norton, and TikToker Keller Moore claimed to have been arrested in Dawsonville, Georgia.
Fans of the three, however, were skeptical that the group had actually been arrested, and many thought the images looked staged.
Insider reached out to the Dawson County Sheriff's Office (DCSO) last week, and the department had no record of arrests for Detwiler, Norton, or Moore.
In a follow-up to Insider's query about the three men, DCSO revealed that their team had been working with Detwiler on his upcoming video "that is likely to break the internet. DCSO is excited to be part of this collaboration and encourage safety for car enthusiasts nationwide," they said in a statement.
The three influencers began posting about the purported arrest on October 15. Norton posted a photo of himself on Instagram in which he appeared to be handcuffed, and captioned the post, "A night out with @whistlindiesel landed me in handcuffs."
Detwiler, a racing and motor-vehicle YouTuber with over 2.3 million followers, posted a series of photos to Instagram that appeared to show the same incident, captioning it: "Whistlindiesel word of the day – Imprisonment."
Norton posted two videos to Instagram of various vehicles being driven at high speeds, followed by a short clip that appeared to be inside a police car.
Those were followed by a TikTok video posted by Moore on October 16, which received over 3 million views, showing a man whose face wasn't visible being handcuffed and led into what looked like a police car. He was heard saying in the video, "We were just trying to film something in Justin's McLaren, and he got in trouble."
Moore posted a second video that showed Detwiler in handcuffs, also being placed into the back of what appears to be a police car. The on-screen text read, "Bro, they got WhistlinDiesel too..."
@kellermoore an eventful night to say the least… @whistlindieselvstiktok2 #mclaren #720s #police #fyp #fypシ ♬ original sound - Keller Moore
Many viewers were skeptical of the influencers' story, commenting that the footage looked "fake," and that the entire incident was "staged" because they could hear "camera clicks" in the background.
One person wrote, "If this was real, there would be more cops, and they wouldn't let people stand around and take pics.
When approached by Insider, Moore insisted the arrest was real. He said, "Cody was caught eating large amounts of concrete from the local Bed Bath & Beyond parking lot. He was caught while attempting to flee the parking lot in the McLaren and police took him in for booking."
Norton previously confirmed to Insider that the incident occurred in Dawsonville, Georgia, but that he could not "give any details at this time." He added that he would do so once Detwiler releases a video.
Detwiler did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment on the collaboration with the sheriff's office.
For more stories like this, check out coverage from Insider's Digital Culture team here.