German 'Jackass'-Style Web Stunt Turns Deadly
A German amateur stunt performer died instantly from head injuries after being thrown from a spinning playground carousel in a "Jackass"-style stunt gone awry in the Bavarian town of Oberviehbach.
The 20-year-old man, known only as Tobias, was part of the group known as the "Bavarian Dumbasses," a gang of six young German men who gained notoriety for filming their shenanigans and posting them to the web via YouTube and Facebook.
Tobias was taped to the playground carousel and roped to a BMW by his three cohorts on Sunday, according to the Munchner Merkur newspaper. With the rope hitched to the car, the three other young men, who the paper said were 18-20 years old, then put the car in full throttle in attempt to spin Tobias as fast as possible.
As the car took off, Tobias was propelled by centrifugal force at an incredibly high speed - so fast that the tape tore off and he was sent hurtling six yards from the merry-go-round and head first into the ground.
A woman who lived near the playground said that she then heard blood-curdling screams.
"I heard this terrible scream and shouts for help," the woman, identified by Munchner Merkur as Rita H., said. "When I arrived my husband was already there and he was trying to revive the victim but it was useless. He was covered in blood and think his neck was broken."
A father on the scene quickly came to pull his two young children away from the horrific scene, reported Munchner Merkur, adding that when police arrived they found the driver of the vehicle crying in his car.
Police are now looking at manslaughter charges against the friends, according to Munchner Merkur. Tobias' father told the paper that these stunts shouldn't be allowed on the web.
"I wish these video on the Internet would be banned - these are dangerous actions," he said. "This type of thing just never happens again. Never again. "