Sam Golbach and Colby Brock were arrested on January 16, 2019, after Tampa police caught them inside the fire-damaged Lee Elementary Magnet School, where the YouTube duo known as Sam and Colby had gone to film content for their channel. Both pleaded no contest to misdemeanor trespassing, and the court withheld judgment, so no formal conviction was entered against either of them.1Tampa Bay Times. Yes, There Can Be Consequences to Those YouTube Stunts
What They Were Arrested For
Sam and Colby weren’t alone that night. They entered the abandoned Tampa school with brothers Ricky and Nick Ireland of the YouTube channel Ireland Boys Productions. The building had been gutted by a fire traced to electrical damage from Hurricane Irma and was sitting empty while officials worked on rebuild plans.2Spectrum Bay News 9. Community Marks Anniversary of Lee Elementary Fire Neighbors spotted the group and called police, who detained all four inside.1Tampa Bay Times. Yes, There Can Be Consequences to Those YouTube Stunts
The four were taken to a Tampa police station, booked, searched, and put in orange jumpsuits. Nick Ireland was under 18 and was transported to a juvenile detention facility. The other three were held overnight and released the next morning after posting bail.1Tampa Bay Times. Yes, There Can Be Consequences to Those YouTube Stunts
How the Charges Were Resolved
All four faced misdemeanor trespassing charges in Hillsborough County, and the cases moved through multiple court appearances before being resolved.
- Sam Golbach pleaded no contest to misdemeanor trespassing. The court withheld judgment.
- Colby Brock pleaded no contest to misdemeanor trespassing, with judgment also withheld. Prosecutors had filed an additional charge against Brock for possessing a driver’s license with an altered date of birth, but that charge was dropped.
- Ricky Ireland pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor trespassing and was placed in a misdemeanor intervention program.
- Nick Ireland’s case went through the juvenile system, and the specific outcome was not publicly disclosed.
A withhold of judgment is a better outcome than a standard guilty plea because no conviction is formally entered, but the Tampa Bay Times reported that the resolution still came “after multiple court appearances and at great cost to them.”1Tampa Bay Times. Yes, There Can Be Consequences to Those YouTube Stunts
How the Arrest Changed Their Channel
Sam later called the arrest a “blessing in disguise.” Before January 2019, the duo’s channel ran on challenge videos, pranks, and what Sam described as “stupid sit-down videos.” The legal trouble pushed them to drop that format. “It forced us to change the way we do content and that really elevated our channel,” he told Metro in 2020. “Instead of doing something we weren’t really comfortable with, we were forced to make a change.”3Metro. YouTubers Sam and Colby Reveal Getting Arrested Was a Blessing in Disguise
They turned toward paranormal and haunted-location series, working with historians and mediums and spending about a month planning and another month editing each project. Sam and Colby said the new direction was content they were “genuinely interested in,” and described the production quality as “informative movie quality.”3Metro. YouTubers Sam and Colby Reveal Getting Arrested Was a Blessing in Disguise Ricky Ireland, reflecting on the arrest in a later collaboration video with the duo, said, “I’m glad that it happened. Not that we did the illegal thing, but that it stopped us and put us in our place.”1Tampa Bay Times. Yes, There Can Be Consequences to Those YouTube Stunts