A viral video of a Tesla jumping over Echo Park, Calif. made the rounds earlier this month and now it seems that Alex Choi has spoken out. The stunt was filmed by him near his home in the Silver Lake neighborhood on January 3rd, but he is not happy with how things have turned out and says he’s been “ambushed” by people who don’t know what they are talking about.
ECHO PARK, CALIFORNIA (CBSLA) — An eyewitness who recorded the hazardous and illegal leap made by a Tesla in Echo Park on his iPhone talked to CBSLA.
Alex Choi speaks with CBSLA after filming a deadly act on his iPhone and sharing it online. 21st of March, 2022 (CBSLA)
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Alex Choi is wearing red in the video when the Tesla catches air above the junction of Alvarado and Baxter Streets at 12:10 a.m. on Sunday.
“Seeing the bottom of a vehicle is never a good thing,” Choi told CBSLA.
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Choi, a car influencer, said the expression on his face doesn’t even come close to expressing what he was thinking.
“You can see my emotion on my face.” I was really taken aback. I flew into a panic for 20-30 seconds, believing those folks were seriously hurt or perhaps dead, or that they had run over someone else.”
Despite the fact that the incident damaged two other automobiles parked on the street, no one was injured, according to the Los Angeles police department.
Neighbors saw the occupants exit the damaged Tesla and escape the area in another vehicle.
Choi claims that he is now facing a lot of backlash as a result of posting the stunt’s footage on his prominent YouTube channel.
Choi is seen here filming the Tesla as it takes to the air on his smartphone.
“That roar was like a bomb going off, and the pictures don’t do it justice.”
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However, Jonathan Sutak, a neighbor, was enraged that influencers such as Choi were promoting possibly lethal actions.
“It’s a problem with drivers, and it’s a problem with this YouTube community that doesn’t care about property owners.” “All they care about is YouTube likes,” Sutak said.
Choi told CBSLA that he only shared the footage because it was rumored that he was driving the Tesla.
“I wanted to let everyone know it wasn’t me.” “I’m not that dumb,” he said emphatically.
The automotive influencer said he had no idea the driver was planning to leap and that they had just met earlier that night at a Tesla vehicle event arranged by Choi.
“A random man pulled up next me and said, ‘Hey, you want to see where David Dobrik jumped his Tesla?’ I answered, ‘Sure,’ since there was no hint that he was going to do it personally.” Choi said to CBSLA. “He didn’t even give me a second to ask him a question when I got there, no test runs, didn’t even bother to glance over the other side of the road.” He drove all the way to the end of the road. ‘Oh, wow,’ I said as I stepped out of my vehicle. He’s serious about this, like, he’s going to do it.’”
When asked whether he felt any responsibility for “influencing” stunts by publicizing them, he said this was the first time he’d witnessed and uploaded a stunt from an open, public street by CBSLA reporter Laurie Perez.
“Most of my previous feats, I’d want to point out, were all performed in a fairly controlled environment.” Everything was shut down if I posted anything that seemed to be on a public road. It’s certainly not something that should be replicated in the future.”
Jordan Hook, one of the neighbors whose Subaru was hit, has started a GoFundMe campaign to aid with repairs or the purchase of a new vehicle. Choi said that he contributed a significant amount to the campaign.
The LAPD is offering a reward for information on the driver, but Choi says he has yet to hear from them. He says he’s willing to share them his footage, but he has no further information about the driver.
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Detective Juan Campos or Central Traffic Detectives at (213) 833-3713 were invited to contact anybody with information on the event.
