GMA: Teens Arrested Making 'Jackass' Tape
April 25, 2001 -- It was supposed to be a hilarious gag, an over-the-top stunt captured on home video that would land a group of teens on a popular national television show.
But instead of seeing their antics replayed on MTV's Jackass, two Independence, Ky., boys wound up breaking their friend's leg and getting sent to a juvenile detention center after taping a daredevil hit-and-run style stunt Monday afternoon.
"They were extremely upset after the event happened," Independence police Sgt. Anthony Lucas told ABCNEWS' Good Morning America. "But prior to that, when we saw the video of them doing the practice runs, they're laughing about it, cutting up, they were upset that he didn't try (standing in front of the car) the first time."
Police say a 17-year-old was driving the 1983 Honda Civic and his 16-year-old friend was videotaping from the passenger seat as the two intentionally struck another 16-year-old who was standing in the middle of the road, waiting for them.
Police say the car was moving faster than the 20-mph speed limit on the residential street, although they do not know its exact speed.
In their previous dry runs — they had apparently practiced the stunt for two weeks — the boy had jumped away from the car just before it would have hit him. Their plan was to have him leap away from the moving car in a single bound, capture it all on videotape and then submit it to MTV in hopes of making the broadcast.
Instead, the high-school students produced an alarming video record of a stunt gone wrong, in which the teenager is struck by the car, hits the windshield with a thud, then flies over the car onto the pavement.
He ended up with a broken leg, cuts and bruises all over his body and bumps on his head.
Police charged the driver and passenger of the car with first-degree, wanton endangerment and sent them to the Campbell County Regional Detention Center. They did not charge a fourth boy who was taping the stunt from a nearby yard, though both he and the victim may also face charges, Lucas said.
The car stunt was only the latest that the boys had tried. Earlier this year, they were riding skateboards and bicycles into a lake when it was extremely cold out, Lucas said. In one video, a boy rode his bicycle right into a snow-covered bush.
Don't Try This at Home
This case marks at least the third time that teens inspired by the MTV stunt show ended up hurt or in trouble. In this case, the car stunt they devised had never been on the show.
MTV warns viewers not to try to recreate the stunts shown on the program, since they are performed by professionals or under careful observation.
"There has never been a segment on MTV's Jackass like the one that occurred in Independence, Ky.," MTV officials said in a prepared statement. "MTV takes great care to air all of its programming in a responsible manner. Jackass specifically states in every episode, as well as on the mtv.com Web site, that no tapes from members of the public will be accepted for consideration to air on the show."
The program itself also urges viewers not to try the stunts at home, they said: "At the end of every show, MTV clearly states the following, 'MTV insists that our viewers do not send in any home footage of themselves or others being Jackasses. We will not open or view any submissions, so don't waste your time.'"
A Magnet for Copycats
But many of the show's most devoted watchers are teens and at least some of them don't seem to be paying attention to such disclaimers.
A recent episode of Jackass inspired two notorious copycat stunts earlier this year. On the show, host Johnny Knoxville donned a flame-retardant suit and lay on a grill while assistants squirted him with lighter fluid and set him ablaze.
In February, 12-year-old Thomas Hitz of Lake Mary, Fla., doused himself with bug spray and set his body on fire as friends videotaped his stunt. He says he'd only meant to let his hand catch fire, but the flames leaped to his shirt as he ran across the yard, struggling to tear away his burning clothes. He wound up with second and third-degree burns on his chest, and needed two skin-graft surgeries.
Another boy, Jason Lind, 13, of Torrington, Conn., had tried a similar stunt on Jan. 26, also without any flame-retardant clothing, and he too suffered second- and third-degree burns.
Good Morning America's Parenting Contributor Ann Pleshette Murphy says that adolescent boys are risk-takers, and are often drawn to dangerous behavior at their age.
"The incidence of risk-taking behavior among boys is highest than any other segment of society," she said. "In fact unintentional death rates, that is from bungee-jumping or other high-risk activities is four to five times higher among boys this age than among girls."
And if you try to tell your children not to watch a show like Jackass or try such stunts, they will anyway. She suggests watching the show with your children and teaching them other, healthier options, to releasing some of the pent-up energy they have at that age.