- A YouTuber was arrested over a stunt involving fireworks, a helicopter, and a Lamborghini.
- The 24-year-old is accused of causing fireworks to be shot out of a moving helicopter.
- Police believe he directed it without permits and used fireworks that were illegal in California.
A 24-year-old YouTuber could face up to 10 years in prison after being accused of directing a social media stunt involving two women illegally shooting fireworks out of a helicopter at a Lamborghini.
According to a press release from the US Attorney's Office for the Central District of California, Suk Min Choi, known as Alex Choi, was arrested on Wednesday and charged with one count of causing the placement of an explosive or incendiary device on an aircraft.
According to an affidavit, Choi, who has 924,000 YouTube subscribers and 1.2 million Instagram followers, posted a video on his YouTube channel last July titled "Destroying a Lamborghini with Fireworks."
The complaint said it appeared to be "a live-action version of a fictionalized videogame scene."
In the video, federal prosecutors say Choi can be seen pressing a "fire missiles" button.
The complaint said that the video also shows him saying multiple times that he coordinated the shoot, as well as thanking a camera company for "being a part of my crazy stupid ideas."
The video also "specifically" states that Choi directed it, it said.
Law enforcement believes that the video was shot on the El Mirage Dry Lakebed in San Bernardino County sometime in June 2023, according to the press release, and that Choi did not have a permit to film using fireworks on a helicopter, and that the fireworks in question were illegal in California.
The video appears to have been deleted from Choi's YouTube channel, but Millionaire Motors, which edited the video, uploaded a shorter version of it on YouTube.
The video shows a helicopter flying near the ground and repeatedly firing at a Lamborghini in the desert.
If convicted, Choi could face up to 10 years in prison.
His arraignment is expected in the coming weeks, the US Attorney's Office statement said.
In the past, other social media influencers have been charged in connection with stunts, ranging from throwing a birthday party during the coronavirus pandemic to dumping buckets of feces onto train passengers.
Filming pranks can sometimes turn tragic.
Tanner Cook of the YouTube channel Classified Goons, was shot in the abdomen last year while filming a prank video that went wrong at the Dulles Town Center Mall in Virginia.
And last year, according to police, a 17-year-old boy fell to his death after attempting to film a social media stunt on Los Angeles' new $500 million 6th Street bridge.
