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Man Behind Those Cringeworthy Hotel Pool Jumping Videos Arrested
Of all the ways cliff/hotel jumper 8booth's reign of adrenaline seeking could have ended, an arrest is not necessarily the worst of them. 8booth, who we now know to be 28-year-old Anthony Armer, made a name for himself by posting cringeworthy videos on YouTube in which he recorded himself jumping off hotels and cliffs into the waters below. The videos were mostly shot with a GoPro from his POV and at least one of them was a very close call, showing Armer almost crashing into a pile of rocks after leaping off a Crystal Cove cliff.
On Wednesday, authorities arrested Armer, the OC Register reports. They say Armer entered an apartment on West Coast Highway in Newport Beach on October 6 in order to jump off the roof and into the harbor. Armer is also accused of trespassing at the Surf and Sand Hotel in Laguna Beach in order to jump into the pool on September 29. Videos of these alleged jumps have been posted to 8booth's YouTube page.
8booth's daring and ill-advised videos drew a lot of attention. The Newport video above has over 6 million views, and the Laguna video below has nearly 6 million. It's that attention that led authorities to investigate who was behind the precarious jumps. Armer has been charged with two misdemeanor counts of unauthorized entry of a dwelling and one misdemeanor count of trespassing with intent to interfere with business, according to the Orange County District Attorney's office.
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Before his arrest, 8booth's real name was unknown. He took precautions to hide his identity in his videos, wearing a bandana over his face. He spoke about his unusual hobby with CBS Los Angeles, telling them, "A lot of people think it's stupid but you know what, I think it's stupid to sit in a cubicle all day." Booth is apparently Armer's middle name, according to OC Weekly.
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