A popular YouTube influencer could be spending the next decade in prison for a controversial “crazy stupid” stunt he filmed in 2023.
Alex Choi arrested for fireworks stunt
Suk Min Choi, who professionally goes by Alex Choi and is known for his outrageous antics online, celebrated last year’s Fourth of 4th in the Mojave Desert in a spectacularly reckless fashion.
According to The Daily Beast, Choi put on a massively illegal fireworks display to thrill his nearly one million YouTube subscribers, when he shot them off at a $300,000 Lamborghini from a helicopter in what was described as a “a live-action version of a fictionalized video game.”
The 24-year-old was arrested in California on Wednesday for filming the 11-minute action packed video, which was set to pop singer Miley Cyrus’ 2009 hit “Party in the USA,” U.S. prosecutors noted.
In addition to Choi’s arrest, court documents revealed that the FAA had also revoked the helicopter pilot’s license for breaching legal altitude limits and not displaying the helicopter’s ‘N’ number during the explosive pyrotechnic display.
The federal government deemed Choi’s actions as hazardous, endangering people and property by operating the helicopter carelessly and recklessly, according to the complaint.
He faces charges of causing the placement of an explosive or incendiary device on an aircraft, which is a serious federal offense that carries a lengthy criminal sentence.
Choi’s stunt, partially executed on federal land, caught the attention of several agencies, including the FAA, DOT Inspector General’s Office, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and Bureau of Land Management.
The video, titled “Destroying a Lamborghini with Fireworks,” remained on YouTube for months, but has since been removed from the Google-owned platform.
According to the complaint, it featured “various dramatic action scenes,” including a segment where “a female and male acting as police officers discuss going to find an individual who is speeding.”
In the video, the female “officer” is then shown getting into a helicopter where another woman was apparently already waiting inside in a flight suit and helmet.
While the helicopter is airborne, the two women were filmed “holding and shooting fireworks out of the helicopter onto and towards a Lamborghini sports car driving on the ground.”
Alex Choi implicated himself in the crime
The video included a “behind-the-scenes” segment, where Choi implicated himself as the director by explaining how he had staged the scene.
Choi was “heavily featured” gloating about the various aspects of the insane film shoot, which included insight into why he switched the type of fuel he used in the sports car “whenever [he’s] doing crazy sh*t,” in an effort to create “less detonation.”
He also expressed gratitude to the sponsoring camera company for “being a part of [his] crazy stupid ideas” and aiding in the creation of “the craziest Fourth of July video involving cars and fireworks,” the complaint stated.
The director allegedly gave a seemingly “spontaneous” safety talk to crew members, and one of the drone pilots was so disturbed by the lack of precautions that he “tried to stay away and behind the helicopter” while filming.
Footage showed Choi holding an alleged firework next to the grounded helicopter and pressing a “fire missiles” button while pyrotechnics were being shot at the sports car from sky.
Following a subpoena of Choi’s emails, authorities were further able to connect him to the crime when they discovered messages related to the video’s planning.
In December, the FAA inspector told the DOT Office of Inspector General that the agency was initiating an investigation into Choi.
Investigators narrowed down the time the video was filmed to sometime in June 2023 and allege the stunt was carried out at the El Mirage Dry Lakebed in San Bernardino County, California.
According to the complaint, Choi did not “have a permit to film a shoot using fireworks on a helicopter” on federal land.
He also transported fireworks across state lines from Nevada, where he bought them, because their sale is prohibited in California.
Choi made an appearance in LA Superior Court on Thursday and is expected to be arraigned in the coming weeks. If convicted, he could face up to ten years in prison.
