Ex-Con Falls Victim To Hot Chip Challenge

MAY 22--A convicted felon who engaged in the “Hot Chip Challenge” is behind bars, charged with violating his parole by swigging from a bottle of beer “due to the chip being so hot,” according to court records.

Darin Deilkes, 36, was arrested yesterday for allegedly violating parole terms that bar him from using or possessing alcohol (or frequenting an establishment where the primary purpose is the sale of alcohol).

The parole conditions were part of Deilkes’s sentencing in Colorado in connection with a felony stalking conviction.

Pictured above, Deilkes lives in Florida, where he was busted yesterday during a meeting with probation officers who had reviewed a video showing him “with a Corona in his hand.” Deilkes “is a risk to himself and others with any further alcohol use,” according to a affidavit sworn by a Probation & Parole officer.

The video, reportedly recorded in late-March, showed Deilkes “doing the ‘hot chip’ challenge,” according to an arrest report. Confronted with the clip, Deilkes “admitted to taking a ‘swig’ of the Corona due to the chip being so hot.” Court records do not indicate how probation officials learned of the video, though the social media accounts and phones of those being supervised are often reviewed.

While there have been several versions of the challenge, each has involved the consumption of a tortilla chip covered with chili spices that approach the upper reaches of the Scoville scale.

In addition to his alleged beer consumption, Deilkes was cited earlier this month for violating a parole requirement to carry a tracking device.

Deilkes’s rap sheet includes convictions for dealing in stolen property; cocaine sales; grand theft; credit card fraud; heroin possession; cocaine possession; theft; burglary; and violating a domestic violence protection order.

Deilkes, who has spent a combined total of seven years in state prison, had a parole termination date in late-2026. (1 page)