Oct 13, 2024 3 min read

Two Bethel Park teenagers face charges after being accused of recording an elderly Peters Township woman while asking for $5,000 for a nonexistent lawn service as part of an internet “prank.”

Andrew J. Janidlo, 18, and Dennis Dan Meyers, 19, were charged by Peters Township police Tuesday with felonies of intercepting communications, theft by deception and criminal conspiracy.

Peters police Chief Joseph Glover confirmed the two were creating content for a YouTube channel.

While the criminal complaints do not make any specific reference to the YouTube channel, an account under Janidlo’s name contains mostly prank videos depicting Janidlo approaching unsuspecting people in public and behaving in a way that elicits an angry reaction.

According to the complaint, Janidlo had a voice recorder in his pocket connected to a microphone under his shirt when he was taken into custody. A search warrant for Janidlo’s phone and voice recorder turned up audio recordings of interactions with the alleged victims, charging documents state.

Police said that on Aug. 31, Janidlo and Meyers went to a home on Maid Marion Lane where the 82-year-old homeowner answered the door. Janidlo was wearing a white hazmat suit and holding a sprayer, according to the complaint.

They told the woman they had sprayed her plants with a chemical that would kill them, but would “reverse” the action for $5,000, according to the complaint. The woman called a neighbor for assistance and the two left the scene in Janidlo’s vehicle, which had plastic covering the license plate.

Glover clarified that they were also filming the interaction.

“As far as I know, they were filming and audio recording. The filming was from a distance. The audio recording was up close and personal,” Glover said Friday.

Police were soon called to another home on Sagewood Drive, where a couple caught Janidlo and Meyers spraying their shrubberies, police said. The two left when confronted, but the homeowners were able to provide police with the license plate number.

Janidlo and Meyers voluntarily met with police that day. Police took Janidlo into custody and had his vehicle towed after noticing the hazmat suit and a sprayer in the back seat. Police obtained a search warrant for the car on Sept. 4.

Janidlo and Meyers were arraigned Thursday morning before District Judge Louis McQuillan. McQuillan released Janidlo on $10,000 unsecured bond. Meyers was sent to the Washington County jail on $2,500 bond.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 11 a.m. Nov. 4.