Virginia TikTok Star Arrested Over Argument With Restaurants

A popular TikTok user from Virginia was arrested after ignoring a court order to not mention a local restaurant employee on her social media accounts.

Crystal Briscoe, 39, was charged with violating an Emergency Protective Order (EPO) -- a Class 1 misdemeanor punishable in Virginia by up to 12 months in jail and a fine of up to $2,500 -- that was issued five hours prior to her arrest on Monday (August 9) morning, Arlington Now reports.

Briscoe, who has nearly 25,000 TikTok followers under the account @CocoBriscoe, shared several posts on TikTok and Instagram alleging employees at Rebellion on the Pike and The Celtic House Irish Pub & Restaurant -- both in Columbia Pike -- created a plot to harass her online via social media comments and fake online dating profiles.

Briscoe accused one employee of being a "stalker" and claimed the woman was able to obtain the restraining order because she is dating an Arlington County police officer and accessed Briscoe's personal information.

Briscoe, who gained a following on TikTok for her commentary on the Washington, D.C. dating scene, said in a video over the weekend that the harassment began after a bad date with a restaurant employee who works at one of the Columbia Pike restaurants -- which she referred to as 'the Pikeys' -- claiming the individual started to bully her, take videos of her and "plant" a person to date her.

Briscoe claimed in another TikTok post that she threatened to call the FBI over the alleged harassment and alleged, without evidence, that the restaurants were complicit in the allegations involving their employees.

“Call your dogs off, Rebellion and Celtic. Or I will do everything in my power to have your businesses shut down. Everything. I’ve only asked you to leave me alone,” Briscoe said.

Both of Briscoe's initial TikTok posts have more than tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of views and many of her followers have left negative reviews on the two restaurants' Yelp pages.

A police spokesperson said the restraining order against Briscoe ordering her to stop posting about the restaurant on social media was issued by a magistrate Monday (August 9) morning and was quickly violated.

“On Sunday, August 8th, police responded to the Magistrate’s Office for the report of harassment,” said Ashley Savage with the ACPD via Arlington Now. “At approximately 2:29 a.m. on August 9th, the Magistrate issued an Emergency Protective Order (EPO) for the petitioner against Ms. Briscoe. At approximately 5:35 a.m., officers responded to 1200 block of S. Courthouse Road and served Ms. Briscoe with the EPO and explained the conditions of the order which included ‘respondent is to keep the peace, not discuss petitioner on social media.

"Ms. Briscoe subsequently violated the conditions of the EPO and an arrest warrant for violation of Virginia Code § 16.1-253.2. Violation of provisions of protective orders was issued by the Magistrate. At approximately 7:30 a.m., officers responded to the 1200 block of S. Courthouse Road and took Ms. Briscoe into custody without incident on the outstanding warrant.”

Court records obtained by Arlington Now confirmed Briscoe was released on her own recognizance.