Sedalia, MO - Pranksters hijack Taco Bell's drive-through signal

[jerk]

Pranksters hijack Taco Bell's drive-through signal
Thu Feb 12, 8:54 pm ET

SEDALIA, Mo. – Police are looking for pranksters who hijacked a Taco Bell's drive-through radio signal and used it to shout vulgarities to customers. The suspects posed as Taco Bell employees in the Tuesday afternoon episode, which lasted a few minutes.

Police said even though the intruders meant it as a joke, they could face charges. Taco Bell employees said they would press charges if the pranksters are caught.

Sgt. Matt Wirt said the suspects "would have to be in relatively close proximity to" the business to interfere with the drive-through frequency.

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Information from: The Sedalia Democrat, Sedalia Democrat

(Mod Edit: added location information to subject. This is an approval requirement.)

 

[RedPenguin]

Wow.....

This reminds me of that YouTube video from PLA where they appearntly hacked a Taco Bell.

Taco Bell must be a common target for pranks or something.

Anyway, would be interesting if they do find these pranksters and I'm surprised, didn't think police and more really cared about Fast Food interference.

I mean because of how many stories I've heard that when Fast Food gets messed with, nothing ever really becomes of it.

 

[bob_leach_3]

Taco Bell Hack

Man I got a kick out of those vids on youtube about the taco bell takeover lol. BTW the suspects would not really have to be anywhere close (possibly a mile or more away) if they had a string enough signal. They could have had a modified mobile or something with a high power output...But more likely they would be nearby.

 

[mikepdx]

Why do the local police presume they have jurisdiction?
Simply because Taco Bell called them?

Is this not solely a Federal (FCC) issue???
Unlicensed operation, intentional interference, and profanity over the air.

How is this a local public safety matter, unless threats were made?

 

[robertmac]

sick

Still a sick eagle!

 

[EC-7]

I'll admit, I used to do this too. Most fast food restaurants use the headset freq on a license free freq, like 154.600 or 154.570 with a 88.5 PL and its perfectly LEGAL for anyone to use a MURS radio @2w and talk on that channel. All you need is as a scanner in the 32-38MHZ range to hear the customer.

Now "what" they say or possibly interfering with business operations might have something that can get the police involved, the radio transmitting itself is legal.

My local Wal-Mart hates how my friend and I use MURS daily for communication, but oh, well. We use PL, they dont. They can change their freq or add PL if they dont want to hear us anymore. We sometimes come across McDonalds about 3 miles away too, but we run it legal.

They are SHARED LICENSE FREE FREQ's. If they want to run a good business, pay the $80/yr for a real freq, nad then maybe they would have some legal ground.

Some places are now going to 900 Spread Spectrum, so they dont have these problems.

 

[spicerz]

Its not just a joke...

I'm sure the PD can figure out a charge whether its sabotage, interference with commerce, obscenity, or more than likely criminal mischief. Its not just a crime against Taco Bell but against the entrepreneur/franchisee that owns and operates the business. Its hard enough to keep people employed or turn a profit these days and it makes it even more difficult when people entertain themselves at the expense of hard working Americans.

 

[K7CB]

These stories always make me laugh...mostly from the terminology that the media likes to use. Such as: hacked or hijacked. To me, neither of those terms really applies. Hacking doesn't really apply because there are no security measures in place to keep anyone from using the frequency...and as pointed out by EC-7...MURS frequencies are shared so the frequency Taco Bell is using isn't just for them. Hijacking doesn't really apply either because no one stole or seized anything. Again, the frequency isn't theirs and theirs alone.

It's interesting how this is getting media attention these days. And those kids posting their videos is laughable...they make it seem as if THEY came up with the idea. My friends and I were doing this way back in the early 90s with our 2 meter equipment...we mostly messed with McDonalds. We sat up on a hill overlooking the parking lot and laughed our butts off watching employees and the manager scour the strip mall parking lot looking for whoever was jamming them. Once, we found a McDonalds in a busy area that left all their lights on and the drive thru active even though they were closed. We noticed a lot of people going through thinking they were open so we decided to have some harmless fun. We'd tell them to hold for just a minute and then start playing elevator music or themes from TV shows...then come back a minute later and tell them we were closed. It was rather juvenile (and we were juveniles at the time) and, at the time, it was fun but I by no means advocate doing such a thing. Nowadays, not only can you have fun with the MURS frequencies, but a lot of businesses also use FRS radios...a lot of them are restaurants.

 

[PJH]

Why do the local police presume they have jurisdiction?
Simply because Taco Bell called them?

Is this not solely a Federal (FCC) issue???
Unlicensed operation, intentional interference, and profanity over the air.

How is this a local public safety matter, unless threats were made?

Criminal mischief would be a charge I would use if I received the complaint. Just because its over the air does not squarely put it in FCC hands. The FCC Enforcement guys could do a NOL, but not worth their time.

If you receive a death threat over the radio/TV/etc, would you wait for the FCC to come and take action?

 

[hotdjdave]

Why do the local police presume they have jurisdiction?
Simply because Taco Bell called them?

Is this not solely a Federal (FCC) issue???
Unlicensed operation, intentional interference, and profanity over the air.

How is this a local public safety matter, unless threats were made?

In my state, California, disturbing the peace, malicious mishcief, unlawful interference with a place of business, are just a few crimes that may have been committed, all without any threats being made.

 

[ElroyJetson]

"Don't get the chalupas today. They're using chihuahua meat."


CJ

 

[PJH]

"disturbing the peace"

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Would not apply. Such a charge is angled for loud music, loud parties and that sort of thing. As this takes place at a commerical location, furthermore...a drive thru, it would be very difficult to justify that charge. I am pretty creative, but that would be one that doesn't fit.

 

[Hooligan]

"disturbing the peace"

-----------------------

Would not apply. Such a charge is angled for loud music, loud parties and that sort of thing. As this takes place at a commercial location, furthermore...a drive thru, it would be very difficult to justify that charge. I am pretty creative, but that would be one that doesn't fit.

Are you familiar with the Southern California definition of 'disturbing the peace,' or is your argument using a "Federal Plaza, Manhattan, New York County NY" interpretation of 'disturbing the peace?'

I'm a transplant to California, and it does seem like the judicial system out here usually supports law enforcement's Penal Code enforcement creativity. California Penal Code 415 (Disturbing the Peace) is often used as a catch-all initial charge, subject to more specific charges later upon further investigation & review.

In it's infinite wisdom, and no doubt due to the millions of worthless wonders we have in our otherwise nice state, California legislature enjoys enacting all sorts of laws. Look up P.C. 365.7 or 313.1(F) for examples.

Tim

P.S. Add me to the list of radio-geek juvenile delinquents who messed with fast-food drive-thrus & better yet, church service wireless mics 2+ decades ago.

 

[W6KRU]

"disturbing the peace ......... Would not apply.

You could be charged with a 415 (disturbing the peace) for having an argument with your wife in the car in the parking lot of the 7-11. Not only that but both of you could be charged.

That's the way it works out here.

 

[Hooligan]

Are you familiar with the Southern California definition of 'disturbing the peace,' or is your argument using a "Federal Plaza, Manhattan, New York County NY" interpretation of 'disturbing the peace?'

I realize this 'East Coast vs. West Coast' debate is all just rather academic since the specific incident happened in Sedalia, Missouri, but the main point is that 'disturbing the peace' is a possible charge to levy, as our arguments are showing that there can be a great variance in use & interpretation of that. Some states have anti-hooliganism (!!) laws, which sound even more broad than disturbing the peace could be.


Again, this is well over 20 years ago now, but I demonstrated to my local cop friends how I could seize the RF comm circuit at several of the local fast-food places & they thought it was amusing. I joked with them that if they ever annoyed me, I could quickly create a major race-riot in their cities by just saying a few choice words to innocent & unsuspecting members of a certain race who were at a KFC drive-thru, or even better, if they had any sort of citizen contact while their 169-172MHz wireless mics used in conjunction with their in-car video devices were on, I could impersonate their voice & say a few horrible things on the right frequency and they've never even know it until they were suspended pending an investigation!

The juvenile stupidity above is a good reason it's safer to have spread-spectrum low-power wireless systems for such things.

 

[PJH]

Actually, I got my start in SoCal.

It all comes down to reading the actual law.

A verbal "chat" as you described above between two people would meet the definition. Messing around with a drive thru does not.

Disturbing the Peace, Breach of Peace and all its forms by state law, village law, county law, Public acts, are all typically similar based "xxxxx of Peace". You are causing annoynance to many persons in a public place that is unresonable. In the Taco Bell case, your just annoying people in a car that is 3 feet away. At the last, criminal mischief, at the most - harrasment. If you really streach it, disorderly conduct.

Again, this all depends on your local/state laws.

 

[kb2vxa]

Now HOW many threads here are devoted to fast food frequencies and this very scenario? <yawn> Coming up next on Fox, Toxic Hell, today's episode; Get The Runs At The Border.

Close but no cigar fellers, both municipal and state charges (depending on area) may be brought against radio and television interference should the transmitting station be unlicensed, commonly CB, pirate broadcasters and the like. It looks like the locals have enough to hang the kid, FCC involvement quite unnecessary and transmitting without a license is only a misdemeanor anyway.

"The teens apologized for their behavior."

Aw gee mister I'm sorry. Please don't tell my mommy... WWWAAAaaaaaa.

 

[hotdjdave]

"disturbing the peace"

-----------------------

Would not apply. Such a charge is angled for loud music, loud parties and that sort of thing. As this takes place at a commerical location, furthermore...a drive thru, it would be very difficult to justify that charge. I am pretty creative, but that would be one that doesn't fit.

415 of the California Penal Code:

415. Any of the following persons shall be punished by imprisonment
in the county jail for a period of not more than 90 days, a fine of
not more than four hundred dollars ($400), or both such imprisonment
and fine:
(1) Any person who unlawfully fights in a public place or
challenges another person in a public place to fight.
(2) Any person who maliciously and willfully disturbs another
person by loud and unreasonable noise.
(3) Any person who uses offensive words in a public place which
are inherently likely to provoke an immediate violent reaction.

I realize the crime occured in Missouri; however, had it occured in California, the above law (as well as others) may apply. This is in response to others questioning if in fact a charge of Disturbing the Peace would apply in CA.

 

[hotdjdave]

The following Missouri laws may apply:

565.090. 1. A person commits the crime of harassment if he or she:

(3) Knowingly frightens, intimidates, or causes emotional distress to another person by anonymously making a telephone call or any electronic communication; or

(5) Knowingly makes repeated unwanted communication to another person

​

 

[kb2vxa]

Lawyers are we now? (;->)