Utahn arrested after allegedly posting viral video of him riding hood of car on I-215
Originally Published: 24 MAR 26 17:39 ET
By Pat Reavy
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MIDVALE (KSL) -- A joyride on the hood of a car on I-215 — apparently all for social media hits that had reached 9 million views as of Tuesday morning — caught the attention of more than just the man's followers.
After the Utah Highway Patrol saw the video, they tracked the 20-year-old man down and arrested him.
About 7:30 p.m. on March 14, a West Valley man — who describes himself as a "digital creator" on Facebook — posted a video of himself riding on the hood of a moving vehicle on eastbound I-215 between about State Street and Union Park Avenue. The edited video shows the man sitting on the hood, then kneeling with flowers and a ring as if he's proposing to someone, and lying on the hood while talking on the phone.
His actions are recorded by a camera inside the vehicle.
UHP troopers were made aware of the video on the morning of March 15.
"Based on the recklessness of the male on the hood of the vehicle, troopers believed if he fell off, he could have caused serious injury to others or himself. Troopers then began conducting an investigation into the reckless incident," a police booking affidavit states.
"Troopers went to the area of 230 East on I-215 South eastbound and located multiple red/orange/yellow flowers that matched the flowers used in the video," according to the affidavit. They then tracked down the man whose name was on the Facebook profile where the video was posted.
Monday, troopers went to the man's home and placed him into custody.
"While transporting (the man) to the Salt Lake County Jail, he (said) he made a dumb decision and that riding on the hood was a terrifying situation," the affidavit alleges.
The man's car, which had an expired registration, was impounded after troopers "located containers with nicotine pouches inside, an open container of an alcoholic beverage with alcohol inside in the center console, and two unopened alcoholic beverages in the trunk," the affidavit says.
The man was booked into jail for investigation of several misdemeanor crimes, including reckless endangerment, aggravated disorderly conduct on the highway, having an expired registration, having an open container of alcohol in the car, and being a person under 21 and possessing alcohol.
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