'Jackass' star Steve-O charged in anti-Sea World stunt in Hollywood - Los Angeles Times
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‘Jackass’ star Steve-O charged in anti-Sea World stunt in Hollywood

“Jackass” star Steve-O going to jail for anti-SeaWorld stunt.

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“Jackass” star Steve-O was charged with a slew of misdemeanors for an anti-SeaWorld stunt where he climbed atop a crane and shot off fireworks in Hollywood.

The stunt performer, whose real name is Stephen Glover, previewed the stunt on Instagram when he posted a photo of himself holding an inflatable orca he called “Shammy” and said “We’re going to do a big dangerous stunt tomorrow in Los Angeles that will probably get me in a lot of trouble.”

It did.

The Los Angeles city attorney’s office has charged Glover with creating a false emergency, trespassing, using unregistered fireworks, storing fireworks without a permit and possession of fireworks without a permit, city officials said.

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Glover faces up to a year and a half in jail and a $1,500 fine. If convicted, he could pay additional costs through restitution fees to city police, firefighters and the owner of the property he allegedly trespassed upon.

On Aug. 9, Glover scaled a crane in the 6000 block of West Selma Avenue about 8 p.m., triggering 911 calls of a possible suicide attempt by concerned citizens. More than 80 firefighters surrounded the scene as a helicopter circled overhead.

As fire crews prepared an “air rescue cushion,” Glover posted videos and photos of himself from the top of the crane on his Facebook page.

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“It’s stunt time,” Glover wrote in his first post of the night, which included a nearly five-minute video documenting the initial moments of his daring ascent.

After reaching the top, he photographed a view to the ground showing his shoes standing on a narrow steel beam. In the caption, he wrote: “Did I mention that I’m really high in the air? Hearing sirens now.”

For his last post of the night, a 17-second video, he showed a throng of fire engines on the street below him, with the drone of a helicopter overhead.

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“That is a lot, a lot of [expletive] firetrucks,” he wrote in the video caption. “Anyone wanna bail me out of jail?”

Glover, 41, brought an inflatable Orca with him to the top of the crane and wore a “Blackfish” T-shirt, making the stunt another of his public demonstrations against SeaWorld.

The apparent stunt prompted annoyance and frustration among public safety officials. More than 30 LAPD officers were called to the scene, and Selma Avenue was shut down.

Last year, he was charged with a traffic infraction for an anti-SeaWorld stunt in which he defaced a freeway sign in San Diego. He posted a YouTube video in August 2014 showing him climbing up the freeway sign to attach the word “sucks’’ after the words “Sea World.”

Staff writer Matt Hamilton contributed to this report.

For breaking California news, follow @JosephSerna.

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