In the video, shared on Instagram by the popular account Only in Dade (@onlyindade), a group of about ten people armed with cameras and a megaphone sneak up on the man as he browses the paper products aisle inside the Publix store at 3 Miami Central on NW Second Avenue.
"He trying to meet a 15-year-old!" shouts one of the pursuers.
The man cringes and covers his ears, then heads toward the exit with the streamers in pursuit, calling him a "pedophile" and blaring an emergency sound through their megaphone.
"He is trying to fuck a 15-year-old!" one yells. "He trying to put a grown man dick up in a baby! He came here to meet a kid. He came here to fuck a baby. We caught him on live. He's trying to fuck a baby."
After a City of Miami police officer ushers the vigilantes out of the grocery store, they persist, trailing their quarry into an elevator and into the complex's parking garage. When he realizes the man has driven away, Adin Ross speaks directly into the camera.
"Miami PD takes this shit seriously," he declares. "We're going to give all the information that we need to the police department, get this man behind bars, which is what he truly deserves. He's a pedophile. He deserves to burn in hell."
In an email responding to questions from New Times, Miami Police Department spokesman Orlando Rodriquez said the department could find "no responsive arrests/incidents" involving the streamers' activities.
Only in Dade Has Joined the Chat
Around midnight, Only in Dade posted a 30-second clip, branding it "Meanwhile at Publix..." and introducing it as "Publix, where catching pedophiles is a pleasure…#AdinRoss, #Vitaly, #CharlestonWhite, and several others teamed up to catch an older man who was allegedly trying to meet up with a 15-year-old boy! 🛒😳"As of midmorning Wednesday, the post, which was accompanied by a disclaimer that read, "This video has been posted for awareness purposes," had racked up more than 1 million views and 44,000 likes.
Hundreds chimed in to comment, some applauding the streamers, others pointing out that the man's reaction was typical of a person with autism and criticizing the incident as a publicity stunt.
"This should have been reported to authorities, and they, along with other specialists, could have handled this in a more humane way," one user commented. "As a mother to an autistic son, I'm almost certain this older gentleman is on the spectrum. He could have met [sic] no harm, or maybe he could have. These kids storming into a Publix where families are shopping [and] causing chaos is definitely not the way."
Another commenter stated that such incidents should be handled by police, not streamers: "Now the social media vigilantes are coming out for content and popularity."
Veteran Vigilantes — No Strangers to Controversy
The viral clip represents only a fragment of a five-hour stream hosted by popular streamers and pranksters Vitaly Zdorovetskiy and Adin Ross wherein they "catch predators" around Miami.An Instagram story posted by fellow streamer and YouTuber Jacob Feder showed the group traveling with a police escort. The streamers appear to be operating out of a high-rise near the Miami River, from which they trick men into believing they'll meet up with minors for sex, then confront them at the location.
Last week, the group's self-styled sting operation led to the arrest of a 24-year-old man who allegedly showed up at a Kendall residence to meet up with a 15-year-old boy who turned out to be an adult posing as a youth. The streamers, who'd planted hidden cameras, sprang out and confronted the man, then contacted Miami-Dade County police, who arrested him.
Zdorovetskiy, who grew up in Boca Raton, has been making prank videos for more than ten years.
He scored his first viral video in 2012 with "Miami Zombie Attack Prank!" — a contrivance inspired by the infamous case of Miami's face-eating cannibal. For the video, which has logged more than 33 million YouTube views to date, Zdorovetskiy confronted Black people around Miami while dressed as a zombie. The video was met with allegations that it was a racist attempt to humiliate the local Black community.
Later that same year, in July 2012, Zdorovetskiy and one of his associates were arrested in connection with a prank in which a briefcase that ostensibly contained a bomb was placed outside a Boca Raton Publix.
Unrelated to his videos, Zdorovetskiy was arrested and charged with felony aggravated battery in April 2020 for allegedly attacking a female jogger in Miami Beach in an unprovoked attack.
This is a breaking story and will be updated as developments warrant.
