Optimus Prime (Blakely) Arrested in Texas for Alleged Vehicular Theft – Interest

One of the seminal animated series in the 1980s is Transformers. Originally a vehicle, no pun intended, to push toy maker Takara’s transformable toys via Hasbro, the franchise has gone on to spawn nearly 30 animated properties in Japan and the United States, seven live-action feature films (some of which we choose to ignore), several video games, and of course, a spare bedroom full of toys.

So, it’s no wonder people have a connection to the series. And not just any connection. One where a person will rename themselves after its characters. Unfortunately, one of those people was recently arrested in Austin, Texas for, ironically, car theft.

The FOX 7 Austin station reported on June 8 that a man named Optimus Prime (after the leader of the heroic Autobots from the Transformers franchise) was arrested for car theft in south Austin.

A man named Optimus Prime was arrested earlier this week for car theft in south Austin. https://t.co/1TFGZ6FmOa

— FOX 7 Austin (@fox7austin) June 9, 2024

In its full report, FOX 7 Austin noted that 37-year-old Optimus Prime Blakely was arrested on suspicion of car theft and “faces charges of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.” A full video is available in the article detailing the arrest.

This isn’t the first time someone has been named after the Autobot leader from Transformers. The WNYC public radio station reported in 2009 on one Scott Edward Nall, a U.S. Army National Guard member who served in a firefighting rescue unit in Iraq, who legally changed his name to Optimus Prime.

The news of Optimus Prime Blakely’s arrest also reached Japan with blog postings about it. One Hachima Kikō poster joked (roughly translated), “He was gathering allies.” X/Twitter user “Hakai Taitei Megatron” (Emperor of Destruction Megatron) personally proclaimed:

地球の人々よ　今日こそ真実に目覚めたはずだ！
なぜ我々デストロンが時に悪の行動を取らざるをえなかったのかこれをよく見ていただきたい！

そうサイバトロンこそ悪でデストロンが正義だったのだ！！！ https://t.co/fg07pbvMER

— 破壊大帝メガトロン (@Megatron_decep) June 10, 2024

People of Earth, today you must have woken up to the truth!
Please take a good look at this and see why we Decepticons are sometimes forced to act evil!

Yes, the Autobots were evil and the Decepticons were righteous!!!

There’s certainly something odd about seeing a headline about Optimus Prime being arrested since the first thing that comes to mind, at least for me, is the first-generation design of the character. But knowing there are people named after the Autobot, something like this was bound to happen. And who knows, maybe Optimus Prime Blakely will meet Ratchet, Bumblebee, Jetfire, Grimlock, or even Arcee as he waits for his arraignment.

Sources: FOX 7 Austin, FOX 7 Austin’s X/Twitter account, Deadline, WNYC, Hakai Taitei Megatron’s X/Twitter account via Hachima Kikō, Transformers PR’s X/Twitter account