YouTuber Charged With 18 Criminal Counts After Infamous Ram TRX Jump Video

[MrB]

YouTuber Charged With 18 Criminal Counts After Infamous Ram TRX Jump Video

 

[Quint]

I never saw the video, but I didn't gain any respect for the guy after reading his statement:
"I pay literally hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes, and I don't even want free stuff. I just want to be left alone and the government just can't help itself," Mike said after explaining the charges. He later continued, "I think they are really like trying to throw the book at me. I don't know if because it's easy, it's on video, or to make an example because it's a video that got 1.6 million views."

First of all - we all pay taxes so cry me a river. Second, my guess is that if he did these stunts in a private pond the PFBC wouldn't have done a thing. When he did something connected to public waters (a river), and then claims that he wants "to be left alone," he seems quite dumb. There is a swamp on the back end of my property. It is fully contained on my land except that the water goes over the beaver dam and eventually into the public lake. If I poured something toxic into "my swamp" I am sure that the DNR would go after me too for pollution. You can't do things that affect others and then cry for "freedom." It's a responsibility question, not a freedom question.

If this guy has a decent attorney, most of this will get settled anyway.

 

[TravisJ]

If you are going to make videos doing illegal things, yah, they are going to make an example out of you so the 2mil viewers know they all shouldn't go do the same stuff. The DNR likes to tell you how they can charge you with 100 things and then settle on one thing in the end, that's how it tends to work. We already have enough people taking their trucks and destroying our land, we don't need this guy trying to make people want to do it any more than they already do.

 

[Scram1500]

I'm offended by this,

"According to the description of the charges read by the YouTuber, he received this charge because he did not "ford in the most direct manner," something this statute covers in Chapter 25, noting that it is illegal to "run any vehicle, except fording in the most direct manner, in any stream."

Why do people in Fords get a free pass? Sheesh.... seems like discrimination

 

[jimchi]

Mike says that he was invited onto private property to film these videos and does not believe that he was destructive to the environment, nor did his vehicle leak anything into the stream which could be poisonous to fish (a reference to the "Pollution of Waters" charge). Regardless, he also says that PFBC indicated that it had walked the stream and was able to determine that there was enough evidence for the charges, but the YouTuber says that the commission should instead be questioning the property owners or those who live around it.

Sounds like he polluted the stream, and there was enough evidence to charge. Plastic and metal bits that may have fallen off during the jump are pollution, too.

Don't f*** with the watershed.

 

[scottmoyer]

Sounds like he polluted the stream, and there was enough evidence to charge. Plastic and metal bits that may have fallen off during the jump are pollution, too.

'm not defending the guy here, but think about what you posted. Plastic and metal parts falling off during the jump? He wasn't jumping a Ford! There were no parts falling off when he initiated the jump. All damage came when he landed.

Also, they say he polluted the waterway, but the truck wasn't leaking any fluids, so what did he pollute it with? They said the pollutants were of a chemical nature. Again, what chemicals were found? Are they even used in the truck? If so, they need to prove that those specific chemicals were leaking. He drove that truck quite a bit after the jump, so it couldn't have been leaking too much of anything. Anything that fell out of the truck or broke when he landed, were all on private property, so they can't say he littered either.

 

[PurpleRT]

Good, can’t feel bad for the guy. You do stupid crap and record it for “content” chasing views then your surprised when it catches the eye of the wrong people but I’m sure he made enough off his channel to fight the long fights he’s going to be in. Hope this opens up his eyes.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[jimchi]

'm not defending the guy here, but think about what you posted.

Lol don't tell me to "think about what I posted" then reply with a bunch of speculative nonsense. I don't know exactly what happened - what fell off or leaked from the truck - and neither do you. When you're dealing with watershed & wetlands law, public vs. private ownership does not always matter.

Here are the specific charges, from the article:

His charges include various violations of specific verbiage within Title 30, including two counts of Disturbance of Waterways and Watersheds, six counts of Pollution of Waters, six counts of Littering, and four counts of Misuse of Property and Waters.

 

[Trooper4]

'm not defending the guy here, but think about what you posted. Plastic and metal parts falling off during the jump? He wasn't jumping a Ford! There were no parts falling off when he initiated the jump. All damage came when he landed.

Also, they say he polluted the waterway, but the truck wasn't leaking any fluids, so what did he pollute it with? They said the pollutants were of a chemical nature. Again, what chemicals were found? Are they even used in the truck? If so, they need to prove that those specific chemicals were leaking. He drove that truck quite a bit after the jump, so it couldn't have been leaking too much of anything. Anything that fell out of the truck or broke when he landed, were all on private property, so they can't say he littered either.

If he ruptured/broke the shock reservoir then there is a good chance he lost some fluid. An if so, that in and of itself constitutes a chemical/oil spill, whether on public or private land. If he disturbed a waterway on private land that flows into a public waterway, then he may very well have a problem with polluting a public waterway. Depending on what the designation of the land is riparian habitat, watershed, etc., even on private land, it can be a big problem. Not to mention all the lesser beings further down the food chain that will think they can go out in the wet and wild and do stupid cr@p like this and leave their mark for all to see. Always love to go out into a beautiful meadow and find that some moron with a 4x4 and big tires "left his mark" for the rest of us to see, or not. The world is full of stupid people and they don't need this s%!*$#@d giving them ideas. Ahhhh for the days of lions and tigers and bears and natural selection.

 

[scottmoyer]

You guys need to read what I wrote. Jimchi said that plastic and metal parts fell off during the jump. Parts don't just fall off a new truck. They fell off after he landed, due to the impact, but the jump was over at that point, so he did not pollute during the jump. That's all I was saying about your comment.

 

[jimchi]

You guys need to read what I wrote. Jimchi said that plastic and metal parts fell off during the jump. Parts don't just fall off a new truck. They fell off after he landed, due to the impact, but the jump was over at that point, so he did not pollute during the jump. That's all I was saying about your comment.

A jump cycle consists of a run-up, launch, flight, and landing. The damage occurred during the landing of the jump cycle. You were correct in saying that parts were unlikely to fall off during the flight-time. I was correct in saying that the damage occurred during the jump, at landing. Otherwise it's basically arguing semantics, and that's dumb.

 

[COSPILOT]

Sounds like no “I’ll intent”, but also claimed ignorance which isn’t a defense. Sorry dumbass, claiming to care, but ignorance isn’t a good defense. For those of us that responsibly off road, crap like this ruins it for us.

 

[LITTLEREBEL]

The guy is a ****** bag, but I don't agree with the charges. We ride sxs's through creeks and rivers all the time and never hear of anything. I guess they coming for us next.

 

[mikeru82]

Sounds like no “I’ll intent”, but also claimed ignorance which isn’t a defense. Sorry dumbass, claiming to care, but ignorance isn’t a good defense. For those of us that responsibly off road, crap like this ruins it for us.

That was my thinking too. They want to discourage people from wreaking havoc on the environment. I'm all for people who off-road responsibly. But the crap he did in that video should be limited to areas that are designated for that type of abuse. Not just on some land a buddy owns.

 

[~Ocho1~]

yeah, that's definitely the 1st thing I want to do with my almost $100K truck!!

 

[Gitter]

I have a feeling that most of these charges are from his other videos where he's doing donuts, driving up through the creek, and other nonsense after that initial jump. Stuff was slowly coming off of the truck each time he took it out...

 

[Mountain Whiskey]

What did he leak oil? No, he was returning it. The oil came from the earth and he is doing his part to put it back. He is trying to keep nature in balance guys! Sheese! What are you guys a bunch of earth haters and global warming deniers? We should all do our part and return our oil back to nature.

 

[Royalist_Ram]

The guy is a moron and an as*****. Totally deserves it for his stupidity, regardless of the charge. Watch his videos and you'll see why. He's literally cringe like wtf.

 

[Rick J]

The guy is a moron and an as*****. Totally deserves it for his stupidity, regardless of the charge. Watch his videos and you'll see why. He's literally cringe like wtf.

If Street Speed 717 (Mike Hyssong) were to read this thread, he'd be happier than a pig in mud. Anything to drive more views of his asinine videos makes him happy. More views =more $.

 

[Royalist_Ram]

If Street Speed 717 (Mike Hyssong) were to read this thread, he'd be happier than a pig in mud. Anything to drive more views of his asinine videos makes him happy. More views =more $.

He's not the only person with money around here, I could care less. Karma will come around to him; that or the EPA or some other authority.