YouTube couple jailed after causing over 20 car crashes for views

YouTuber couple Christopher and Kimberly Phelps from California have been jailed for purposely crashing into cars and committing insurance fraud, which they filmed and uploaded to social media.

Since the rise of YouTube and other social media sites, filming and sharing your everyday life with others has become a daily routine for some. But the thrill of getting likes can get addictive, causing people to do weird and sometimes even dangerous things.

For Californian couple Christopher and Kimberly Phelps, this included filming themselves driving dangerously and blaming others. They then continued to post these videos on YouTube under the username “BLU3 GHO57” before turning to their insurance company to get compensation for the damages.

The couple got arrested in March 2023, and have now been sentenced to jail, with Christopher ordered to serve three years and had his driver’s license immediately revoked because of the assault with a deadly weapon charge. Meanwhile, Kimberly was sentenced to 90 days in weekend county jail/work release, three years of supervised probation, and to attend a 52-week child abuse prevention program. She’s now out on bail.

YouTubers allegedly caused accidents for YouTube clicks

Even though the videos only got an average of 50-60 views each, the channel had approximately 162 dash cam videos featuring, collisions, attempted or near collisions, and road rage incidents. Prosecutors later said the couple also had their child in the car for many of the collisions. 

The California Department of Insurance began an investigation after discovering the channel and after Christopher was involved in a “suspicious collision” where he seemed to stop for no apparent reason, causing a truck pulling a trailer to hit his vehicle. 

The California Department of Insurance issued a statement in March when the couple first got arrested. It read: “Christopher Phelps has been charged with six felony counts of assault with a deadly weapon, 11 felony counts of insurance fraud, and five felony counts of child endangerment. Kimberly Phelps has been charged with two counts of felony child endangerment and one count of felony insurance fraud.

“Christopher Phelps was previously charged with one felony count of assault with a deadly weapon and one felony count of causing a vehicle collision for the purpose of presenting a false claim following his arrest [in March 2023].”