r/swindled

In 1993 recently elected Sheriff of Maricopa County Joe Arpaio announces the grand opening of tent city. Joe Arpaio was quite the character. He was a Korean War veteran, police officer and DEA agent who told wild fabricated stories of murdering drug dealers in the alps. He thought the answer to crime was to eliminate it with brutality. Create a police force and jail so brutal no one would ever commit crimes again. As expected, this is a horrible philosophy and Arpaios time as sheriff is more comparable to a military takeover.

Tent City was a structure that encapsulated Arpaios world view. The Maricopa County Jail had a massive outdoor area installed where inmates were forced to live outside in the 120 degree heat. He legalized chain gangs again and forced inmates to walk around town picking up litter until they gained news coverage. Arpaio wasn’t much of a sheriff but he was a master at working the media, and he knew how to sell the image of toughest sheriff in America. He bragged about guard beatings, taking away inmates books and forcing them to eat 30 cent grool. Reminder that this is a jail not a prison, almost everyone at tent city are nonviolent offenders or are awaiting trial and not found guilty yet. Hundreds over the years would die because of the heat and because Joe Arpaio restricted access to medicine. Worse yet, in 2000 he launched a website live-streaming cameras from the jail. Cameras in all the cell blocks and areas for the world to see, including the juvenile detention center bathrooms that kids used. As expected, almost none of this was legal and the jail violated dozens of human rights and health and building codes, but Joe had politcians fawning over him for support. Tent City wasn’t closed until 2017.

https://www.kjzz.org/politics/2025-05-20/maricopa-county-just-approved-34m-for-mcso-monitoring-racial-profiling-case-headed-toward-cost-of-350m-to-tac

https://www.aclu.org/news/smart-justice/marty-atencio-1967-2011-another-victim-sheriff-joe-arpaios

https://www.hcn.org/blogs/goat/the-untouchable-sheriff-of-maricopa-county-celebrates-a-questionable-legacy/

The Astroworld festival was created by rapper Travis Scott known for his reckless endangerment of his crowd during concerts. When he crowd surfed and got his shoes stolen he called out the thief and told the crowd to 'fuck em up'. Travis had been arrested and fined for instructing audience members to climb over security barricades, causing several injuries to his staff and audience. In 2017 he encouraged fans to dive into the crowd from a balcony causing a teenage boy to paralyze himself. At the 2019 Astroworld fans were injured from the surge of people entering the venue. While promoting Astroworld, Travis posted videos online instructing fans how to sneak in without tickets, when already they were expecting 50,000 people crammed into a small area. Live Nation's security team was not licensed to operate in Texas and was untrained for a crowd surge. Ontop of all this, the concert set up required Travis to move across 3 seperate stages, meaning the crowd in the center would be moving back and forth to see each stage. In other words, they had created a giant stampede of people

On November 5th, early morning a crowd has gathered outside NRG Park and began breaking barricades and fences to get in. By the time they opened the gates people flood in and began crushing against each other, struggling to breath and getting trampled. The mosh pit in front of the stage became a death trap and trigger warning because this is some of the worst shit I've ever read about. Early into the performance, 2 people have already died, including a 9 year old boy who had fallen off his fathers shoulders and was crushed to death. In videos and interviews after the concert, survivors of the mosh pit recall struggling to move their arms or even expand their lungs to breathe, one lady curled into a ball on the ground crowd crying, accepting she was going to die. Another woman was saved by the crowd surfing her unconscious body out of the pit. One marine began performing CPR on any unconscious people he could save, resuscitating 2 people. He was stumbling over bodies on the ground, either unconscious or already dead having to leave them to escape the mosh pit himself. When he reached security covered in blood and bruises trying to explain to them that people were dying they laughed at his injuries saying it looked like he had a fun time.

Travis started performing at 9 pm and despite the houston fire department calling Live Nation to cancel the event because people were dying, they continued it for 37 minutes, no one is coming on stage telling Travis to stop. During his performance, Travis stops several times to acknowledge ambulances and fans passing out, only to continue right afterwards. After pointing out an ambulance(which fans climbed on top of to dance) Travis told the crowd to make the ground shake. Meanwhile people are climbing on stage, camera towers and trees to escape the mosh pit. The ones who reach the stage urge Travis to stop the show, as hundreds in the crowd are shouting for help but Travis continued performing. The camera operator who had a teenager climb his tower to get help for his dying friend, told him to go away. In total, 10 children and young adults died at Astroworld, hundreds were injured and Travis Scott mustered an insincere apology video refusing to acknowledge responsibility. Travis girlfriend, Kylie Jenner, posted edited or out of context videos online, making it appear Travis stopped the show way earlier to help fans. They threw an Astroworld-style birthday for their kid called "stormiworld" mimicking the same gates of the concert that had killed multiple children the year prior.

https://www.today.com/news/man-paralyzed-2017-travis-scott-concert-extremely-upset-over-astroworld-t237987

https://www.businessinsider.com/astroworld-security-inexperienced-rushed-into-job-report-2021-11

https://people.com/music/man-who-administered-cpr-at-astroworld-festival-recounts-horror/

https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/07/us/victims-astroworld-houston

In the 1950s Bell Aerosystems began making the Bell Rocketbelt jetpack for the US military, showing it off to JFK in 1962. The military was unimpressed with the results. The Jetpack could only fly for half a minute, so development was cancelled. Instead, the Bell Rocketbelt got used for stunt shows and movies.

Fast forward to the 1980s, Texas insurance salesman Bradley Barker begins working for jetpack stuntman Bill Suitors' crew who perform stunts with the Rocketbelt for audiences. In the early 1990s, Bradley went solo to create his own jetpack. In 1992, he founded the American Rocketbelt Corporation with Doug Malewicki, Joe Wright, and Thomas "Larry" Stanley. Doug deserves credit for helping build the Rocketbelt, but he won't be relevant in the crimes that follow. Joe provided the workspace to build the jetpack, and Larry funded the project. The Rocketbelt 2000 was a success and could fly for a record 40 seconds. Still mostly useless, but Bradley is only interested in the money from stunt shows and movie appearances.

Shortly after its completion, the trio of Joe, Larry and Bradley fell out over money and the rights to the jetpack. It's hard to objectively research this story because these people hate each other and they may be all fabricating the story to some degree. Larry and his lawyer Michael Von Blon claim Bradley was falsifying prices of the jetpack material and pocketing the extra cash. When Larry confronted Bradley a fight broke out and Bradley beat Larry over the head with a hammer and both were charged with assault. Larry took Bradley to court over the fake prices, believing he was entitled to the Rocketbelt. Joe didn't care about the jetpack and just wanted to collect his cut of the money and leave. Unfortunately, he never got it. On July 16th, 1998, Joe Wright was found murdered in his Houston home, beaten to death with a hammer, 11 days before the trial over rights to the Rocketbelt. Police questioned both Bradley and Larry about his death. Bradley was released after a 3-day investigation found no evidence. Joe Wright's murder remains unsolved to this day.

Later that summer, the judge ruled in favor of Larry, demanding Bradley give him the Rocketbelt and pay more than 10 million dollars. Bradley instead took the Rocketbelt and went on the run. Larry was determined to recover that jetpack through any means necessary. Larry Stanley recruits the help of stuntman Christopher James Wentzel, who worked with Bradley in the past, to lure him into a trap. Christopher offers Bradley a fake job in Hollywood he had to drive to. When Bradley arrived at Christopher's house, he was attacked by 3 men with guns, gagged, and stuffed into a wooden scuba diving box. Larry is among the attackers, demanding Bradley tell them where the Rocketbelt is and sign a contract giving up the rights. Bradley refuses to, believing that if he tells them where it is, they would kill him right afterwards. For 8 days, Bradley is kept hostage until finally the group leaves him alone in the house. Bradley escaped and ran to the nearest police station.

In 2002, Larry Stanley and Christopher James Wentzel were found guilty of kidnapping, false imprisonment, and extortion. Christopher takes a plea deal and is sentenced to 7 years in prison. Larry Stanley is serving a life sentence. So what happened to the Rocketbelt 2000, the jetpack that people kidnapped and potentially murdered each other for. Bradley is the last person to ever see it and he's said in interviews he's never telling anyone.

sources:

Missing Rocket Belt Inspired Greed, Envy--Possibly Even Murder - Los Angeles Times

Man Gets Life Term in Kidnapping - Los Angeles Times

Rocketbelt 2000 Drama Part 1

https://www.houstonpress.com/news/blasted-6567513/

https://www.deseret.com/1999/7/28/19457763/rocket-belt-still-missing-but-feud-lives-on/

This is Russ McKamey, owner of McKamey Manor haunted house. You probably remember the haunted house from the viral marketing scheme 15 years ago. Unlike normal haunted houses where you walked through hallways of props and scare actors, Mckamey Manor promised to literally torture you. Their promos consisted of people being waterboard, buried alive in straight jackets, blood poured on you, live snakes. It offered a 20,000 dollar prize to whoever could endure it without tapping out. Russ had thousands of customers lining up thanks to the viral videos. Of course, this was all a scam. The only true thing was the torture.

Mckamey Manor isn’t a real haunted house, it’s barely real at all. Instead of a decorated horror house, Russ figured out he could cut corners by blindfolding customers and walking them in circles around his backyard. He got in trouble for hiring teenagers to help bury people up to their heads. Almost all the viral videos were just Russ and a few friends tying someone up in an empty undecorated building hidden by camera tricks. The 20,000 dollar prize was never a factor. Since there was no set time they had to endure, Russ would just keep moving the goal post until they quit or claim they broke a rule and kick them out. But it was very real for the customers. Russ hard drives and facebook live videos have recently leaked revealing what went down inside the house. It confirmed allegations by customers, their heads were shaved, they were waterboarded, drowned, tazed and punched. In videos, Russ ignored safe words and people pleading to stop. One video revealed that he tricked the co owner of McKamey Manor into being buried alive under the guise of a “promotional video”. That video also showed Russ had a giant metal cage in his house he dared guests to stay in.

Russ operates his company and personal life like a cult. Employees are instructed to harass anyone who steps out. Russ would regularly threaten suicide attempts if friends left him. Russ facebook group was full of teenage girl fans, whom former members have accused of being groomed by him. Russ dates a series of teenage fans despite being elderly. His last girlfriend was a former fan who captured Russ assaulting and yelling at her on film multiple times. Russ was arrested in 2024 after she accused him of raping and trying to kill her. She dropped charges after Russ fans brigaded her with death threats. Russ used the profile picture of him in court getting rape charges dropped as his new dating profile picture.

The main source for a lot of this is the YouTube channel Trilogy Media who made a documentary on Russ. I suggest you don’t support and double check Trilogy Medias work as they have also collaborated with ICE. Still, they organized a shocking amount of video evidence backed up by allegations from former employees for the craziest parts of this story.

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/oct/30/inside-mckamey-manor-podcast-halloween-house-of-horrors-real-life-torture-den

https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/attempted-murder-rape-charges-against-mckamey-manor-owner-dropped/amp/

Starting in 1994, restaurants and stores across American began receiving disturbing phone calls. A man pretending to be a police officer would ask to speak to a manager, convince them that an employee or customer was under investigation for stealing, and instruct the manager to strip search them. What's even more disturbing is that more than a dozen people followed the caller's orders. For 9 years, 70 phone calls were made following this format, and we have to assume dozens more unsuccessful attempts or unreported incidents. It is a deeply disturbing case study of how competent people go into autopilot and follow perceived authority figures into horrible acts.

In the 9 years, the hoax caller successfully convinced multiple managers to strip and rape employees and customers under the guise of 'standard police procedure'. The caller would escalate from strip searches to cavity searches and still multiple managers complied. They often didn't stop following instructions until the caller demanded them to outright rape the employee or someone else walked in and stopped them. Some of them didn't even stop there. The victims were often children in high school. The youngest was a 14-year-old girl ordering food at a Taco Bell, pulled into a back room and stripped by a manager who told her she'd go to jail if she didn't comply. Whether all these incidents were cases of Authority Bias, I'm not convinced. Some of them sound like a predator happened to answer the phone and subconsciously used it as an excuse.

In 2004, the hoax caller convinced 51-year-old Mcdonalds Assistant Manager Donna Summer to strip and assault an 18-year-old cashier for hours. She called her fiance Walter Nix Jr to the restaurant to help. When left alone with the victim, Walter was instructed to rape her. It wasn't until more than 3 hours that Donna finally realized the call was a hoax. Walter was sentenced to 5 years in prison. Donna was sentenced to 1 year probation. It was made public during the trial that McDonald's HQ was well aware of the phone calls, since they were already facing 4 lawsuits related to other incidents. They did not attempt to warn or notify employees of the call scam. The victim sued McDonald's and got a 6-million-dollar settlement. Donna sued and got 500,000 dollars. Other locations were sued; I don't know if they were successful or not.

The most likely culprit of all this was prison guard David Stewart. David's phone card was used in 9 separate hoax calls, including the 2004 McDonald's incident. He was caught on security camera using the phone booths that called multiple locations. David was found not guilty by a jury, likely because there was no recording of the hoax calls to match to Davids voice. The hoax calls stopped after Davids arrest and trial.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/investigations/2022/05/05/strip-search-hoax-kentucky-mcdonalds-fake-officer-scam/9598367002/

https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/investigations/2022/05/05/strip-search-hoax-kentucky-mcdonalds-fake-officer-scam/9598367002/?gnt-cfr=1&gca-cat=p&gca-uir=true&gca-epti=z119052e1161xxv119052d--xx--b--xx--&gca-ft=209&gca-ds=sophi

https://www.plansponsor.com/burger-king-worker-files-strip-searching-lawsuit/

They say you never lie to yourself, your doctor and your lawyer. The third one didn’t go well for thousands of clients of barrister Nicola Gobbo. While working as a defense lawyer, Nicola was simultaneously a registered police informant for decades. When she was in school to become a lawyer, she turned informant after a series of drug arrests. Her name in files was known as “witness f”, “informant 3838” and “Lawyer x”. After defending drug kingpin Tony Mokbel in 2002, (who she was also a registered informant of) Nicola rose to celebrity status. Law enforcement praised her work ethic at calling out corruption and claimed she’s on her way to the Supreme Court. All the while for over 20 years, she stole the right to a fair trial of hundreds if not thousands of her clients by repeating and recording private conversations to police who used it during trial.

After this was made public in 2020 ruining Nicola reputation, she fled Australia. She had surgery, went by different names and rented a series of houses in locations still sealed by the court.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-10-01/nicola-gobbo-lawyer-x-life-in-hiding-victoria-police-trial/104418286

https://story.californiasunday.com/lawyer-x-melbourne/

https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/the-nicola-gobbo-lawyer-x-scandal-explained-20201124-p56hh9.html