It was no joke that more than 500 people decided to have their friends arrested on April Fools Day.

After all, it was for a good cause when the City of Andalusia’s Relay for Life team held its second annual “Arrest-a-friend” fundraiser Thursday on the Court Square.

Unofficial totals gathered shortly before 5 p.m. showed that more than $7,800 had been raised throughout the day when locals called in a “warrants” on an unsuspecting friend, prompting them to raise “bond” in exchange for their freedom. That “bond amount” will be donated to Relay for Life.

Organizers said the day’s highest bond amount was $300, but none present could remember exactly who it was for, and the youngest placed “in custody” was 15-year-old Steffanie French.

Mom Gina, a dispatcher at the Andalusia Police Department, said she was sorry to have to lock up her daughter, but “it was for a good cause.”

Friends bailed her out.