That’s what happened to 27-year-old wannabe influencer Charles Smith, aka “WolfieParty.” On Dec. 19, Smith posted a video of himself taking a can of Hot Shot Ultra Bed Bug and Flea Killer off the shelf of the Stapley Drive Walmart in Mesa and dousing fruit, vegetables and rotisserie chickens with the pesticide. Now, after turning himself in to Mesa police, he faces criminal charges over the stunt.
Mesa Police Detective Richard Encinas told Phoenix New Times that Smith was booked into Maricopa County Jail around 12:30 a.m. on one felony count of "introducing poison" to food. Smith also faces misdemeanor charges for theft, endangerment and criminal damage. Encinas could not say if Smith had been arraigned or granted bail.
According to police, Smith turned himself in after they phoned him about the video, which no longer appears on Smith's 'WolfieParty' Instagram account, which has 368,000 followers. It has since been posted to Reddit. It shows Smith, his head clad in a pink do-rag, as he sprays rows of bananas, lemons, potatoes, tomatoes and finally an upright stand of rotisserie chickens.
Thankfully for the police, Smith made sure to film his face before doing the deed.
After being Mirandized, Smith copped to the crime, per the police report, supposedly admitting that if someone ate the tainted food, "they could become ill and may even have to go to the hospital." He claimed he could earn $6,000 to $10,000 monthly for doing "these types of pranks as a 'troll' on social media."
Smith has an outstanding warrant in Tempe, according to the Mesa police report, and past arrests for shoplifting, theft and making false reports. None of which is surprising based on the content of his Instagram and TikTok accounts, which show Smith apparently engaged in all kinds of petty mischief, some of it possibly illegal.
In two videos posted to his "wolfie kahletti" TikTok account, which has 330,000 followers, Smith wraps bike locks and bungee cords around the door handles to the entranceways to retail establishments during business hours, effectively locking in shoppers and employees.
@wolfiekahletti Dream 908
♬ original sound - wolfie kahletti
In another, he takes a mannequin head from a mall display, runs to a fast food restaurant, jumps the counter, heads to the kitchen and places the plastic noggin in a fryer.
@wolfiekahletti Dream 822
♬ original sound - wolfie kahletti
In a video on his Instagram account, Smith scopes out a senior citizen drying his clothes at a laundromat. When the elderly male abandons the dryer, Smith adds raw bacon and eggs to the guy's clothes and turns the dryer back on.
@wolfiekahletti Dream 907
♬ original sound - wolfie kahletti
Other videos by Smith show him pulling a fire alarm at a Wendy's, throwing food from the second tier at a mall onto people walking below, harassing some dude in a male restroom with a pair of tighty-whities smeared with what looks like feces and tossing what he alleges to be a dead pigeon into a fryer at a fast food joint.
Some of the videos seem obviously staged with the assistance of friends or associates. A few are actually amusing, like one where Smith walks into the back room of a Walmart, waving a raw fish and telling employees to inform management that he's quitting. In another, Smith fries up some bacon and eggs in a skillet, then heads to a local mall where he offers the skillet to a surprised man seated in a courtyard.
There's even a video where Smith dons a witch's hat and seems to fly through the air with a maniacal laugh, finally alighting in the back of yet another fast food establishment where he places a small pumpkin in a fryer. What exactly Smith has against fast food eateries and retail stores is unknown, but at least he's not really hurting anyone in those videos.
On the header of his TikTok account, Smith labels himself a "TYCOON CREATOR" and "SUPREME VILLAIN." But his last, self-assigned epithet seems most accurate: "WILL NEVER BE FAMOUS."
Well, at least not for the right reasons.
