13 June 2010

Stunter Jumps Onto Train,
Upset by "Unfair" Arrest

Chris Ball.

Cochrane Alberta - An amateur filmmaker and stuntman has been charged with mischief after posting a video on YouTube showing him jumping from an overpass onto a moving train.
 
Cochrane man Chris Ball, 19, says he has been "treated unfairly" by railway police whom he claims are seeking to make an example of him.
 
The 17 May 2010 incident ended with Cochrane RCMP writing him a ticket for trespassing, which resulted in a $300 fine. But on Friday, the Canadian Pacific Police Service charged Ball with mischief in relation to the incident, and executed a search warrant at the family home where a computer and a video camera were seized.
 
Ball thinks it's unfair, and possibly illegal, that one police service opted not to charge him criminally while another one did. "As far as I know, you're not allowed to do that, but again, I guess I'll just deal with that in court," said Ball, who is meeting with a lawyer next week before of his first scheduled court appearance 8 Jul 2010.
 
CP TAKES DIM VIEW OF "TERRIBLY RISKY BEHAVIOUR"
 
Canadian Pacific spokesman Mike LoVecchio called the stunt "terribly risky behaviour," and said the company is just looking out for the public and its employees, who are usually the first to see the tragic result of accidents involving trespassing.
 
Ball, who said he has trained in stunt work, rock climbing, and free running, conceded he could be setting a dangerous example for others who may want top him, but adds, "the thing that I tell everyone is don't do something unless you're 100 percent comfortable doing it."
 
He said the train-jumping video was sped up in portions "to make it look more dangerous than it is."
 
The young daredevil has posted other stunt videos on YouTube but feels this one has simply attracted an undue amount of police attention: "There are so many more important things going on in the city than one kid jumping on one train. I'm not hurting other people. I'm not putting other people in danger."
 
The self-described "moviemaking, adrenalin junkie," for whom "moviemaking comes first," had his train video viewed 15,000 times as of Saturday afternoon.