A popular YouTuber is facing federal charges after a video showed two women shooting fireworks from a helicopter at a Lamborghini during a social media stunt.
Suk Min Choi, who goes by the name Alex Choi on social media, was charged with placing an explosive or incendiary device on an aircraft.
The charges stem from a video Choi posted around July 4, 2023, titled “Destroying a Lamborghini with Fireworks,” according to a federal criminal affidavit filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
Federal authorities said Choi did not receive the necessary approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to film the video and that he did not have an explosives license or permit from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
In the nearly 11-minute video, Choi presses a button to fire missiles, and two women in a moving helicopter shoot fireworks toward the luxury sports car, the affidavit said.
“After shooting what appears to be a live-action version of a fictionalized video game scene, the video transitions to a behind-the-scenes look at how Choi shot the first third of the video,” the court document said.
Choi, who has nearly 1 million subscribers to his YouTube channel, could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday. It appears the video has since been removed.
It is not clear whether Choi has been assigned an attorney.
In December, an FAA inspector notified the Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General that Choi’s video was under investigation.
The affidavit describes how Choi planned the video shoot and traveled to Las Vegas to purchase the fireworks “as they are illegal in California.”
Choi wrote that his idea was to make a short one-minute video of an attack helicopter firing rockets (mortar-style fireworks) at the car, while the car tries to run away and avoid the rockets using flares ( Roman candle fireworks attached to the car) the rear of the car,” the document said, citing an email written by Choi.
The affidavit also details text messages between Choi and the camera company he used for the shoot. In a message to Choi, the sender wrote an idea about cameras that capture “insane 360-degree bumpers shot with fireworks.”
In response, Choi reportedly wrote that he could “get my friend out with a helicopter and attach cameras to the helicopter while he chased me.”
“I can even have someone sit in the helicopter and have him shoot fireworks at me,” he said in another text, according to the affidavit.
Federal authorities said radar data from the day of the video recording showed the helicopter left an airport in Pacoima, California, around 1:53 p.m. and turned toward El Mirage Lake, a dry lake in California, where the video was shot.
The helicopter’s transponder was then disabled, according to the affidavit. The helicopter reappeared on radar and flew back to the airport just before 9 p.m., the document said.
According to the affidavit, the pilot initially told an FAA inspector that he knew nothing about the El Mirage video. In a follow-up conversation, he told inspectors that he did not want Choi to know he was talking to them, saying, “Choi was doing unsafe activities with cars and airplanes.”
In January, the FAA issued an emergency order revoking the pilot’s certification as a private pilot, the affidavit said.
The FAA also interviewed a drone operator who stated that he was concerned about the video recording and “tried to stay away and behind the helicopter” during filming. The drone operator said he did not remember any first responders at the scene.
A second drone operator said that before filming began, there was a “safety discussion that he described as spontaneous, with Choi doing all the talking,” according to the affidavit.
The incident comes months after another YouTuber was sentenced to six months in prison after deliberately crashing a small plane to increase video views as part of a sponsorship deal.
Trevor Jacob of Lompoc, California, pleaded guilty last year to one count of criminal damage and concealment with intent to obstruct a federal investigation. Prosecutors said Jacob lied to investigators and a Federal Aviation Administration safety inspector about why he ejected from his Taylorcraft BL-65 before it crashed in November 2021.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
