An Ottawa-area man says police and media scrutiny have prompted him to stop his “24-Hour Challenge” videos, in which he hides in buildings, then videos inside the empty structures after everyone has gone.
“My phone was blowing up this morning with people saying, ‘Dude you’re on the news.’ Pretty much every news station in my city has done a story about me,” said the man behind the JayStation Youtube Channel.
“After I did my 24 hours at the gym and 24 hours at bowling, the police were notified about it and somehow the news got a hold of it and now I’m all over the news.
“I wish this was a joke. I am making this video to tell you I am no longer doing these 24 hour challenges because basically I’m risking my freedom. That’s not something I am prepared to give up.”
The man, who does not identify himself, stressed that he never damaged property, nor did he technically break into any of the properties where he spent the night and did not steal anything.
He also tells viewers not to try the challenge themselves.
“That is the worst decision you can ever make. Do not try these overnight challenges. They are illegal and can get you in a lot of trouble,” he pleads in the video. “These videos are getting me in so much trouble, I have never been so scared in my life.”
Despite claiming to be scared and warning people away from doing the challenges, the station has not taken down the five overnight challenge videos that are posted to YouTube.
The fad, dubbed the 24-hour Overnight Challenge is a new global trend on YouTube. The made-in-Ottawa videos have grabbed as many as a half-million hits.
But Ottawa police are warning that the pursuit of internet stardom may lead to criminal charges — or get someone badly hurt.
The videos shot in Ottawa depict a young man, sometimes with a companion, hiding in various venues — a school, a Catholic church, TD Place Stadium, a gym — then waiting until closing time to film himself exploring the building.
One recent video at the Bay at the Rideau Centre actually includes a man in his 20s — having been arrested and charged with trespassing — brandishing his ticket outside the Elgin Street police station. Earlier, he filmed himself lying on a bed in the linen department and trying on a hat.
In another video, filmed inside a movie theatre, the narrator stops to gloat as he escapes a janitor.
“Doing these things is friggin’ so exciting,” he says. “I get such the rush doing these things and the fact that people love it is just amazing, guys, it’s amazing.”
Amazingly pointless, stupid and dangerous, police might say.
“In our view, it’s an illegal activity,” said Staff-Sgt. Mike Haarbosch. “We want to try to put a stop to it.
“It’s not just a matter of him having his fun and creating a product for all these people to view — there are other things that go into this. The risk to him, tying up our resources, front-line resources and now investigative resources, unnecessarily and that elevated level of risk if front-line patrol officers respond to an address and encounter them.”
As much as this guy may be thrill-seeking — there’s a lot more to it than that and it’s problematic and we need to try to put a stop to it
In some of the videos, like one shot at a bowling alley, alarms are tripped, leading responding officers to have to search large buildings. That could lead to a confrontation in the dark with an intruder — not to mention tying up officers when they could be dealing with real emergencies.
Investigators, meanwhile, could be solving break-and-enters to homes and businesses, Haarbosch said.
And if one of the self-promoters got hurt while trespassing — in one video the young man crawls onto the top of a building through a roof hatch — they might not be found until the next morning.
The prank walks a “fine line” between a number of possible criminal and provincial offences charges which police are now exploring with prosecutors as they review the video-taped evidence.
“As much as this guy may be thrill-seeking — there’s a lot more to it than that and it’s problematic and we need to try to put a stop to it,” Haarbosch said.
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