YouTuber charged in California Lamborghini fireworks – NBC 7 San Diego

A popular Studio City YouTuber faces federal charges after a video shows two women shooting fireworks from a helicopter onto a Lamborghini in a social media stunt filmed in a dry lake in South Carolina. California.

Suk Min Choi, who goes by Alex Choi on social media, was accused of placing an explosive or incendiary device on a plane. 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 obtain required approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to film the video and 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 “fire missiles” button, and two women in a moving helicopter shoot fireworks toward the luxury sports vehicle in the San Bernardino County desert , the affidavit states.

“After filming what appears to be a live-action version of a fictional video game scene, the video cuts to a behind-the-scenes look at how Choi shot the first third of the video,” the court document states.

Choi, who has nearly a million subscribers on his YouTube channel, could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday. It appears the video has since been removed.

It is unclear whether Choi has obtained 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 details how Choi planned the video shoot and traveled to Las Vegas to purchase the fireworks “because they are illegal in California.”

“Choi wrote that his idea was to make a short one-minute video of an attack helicopter firing missiles (mortar-style fireworks) at the car, while the car tried to flee and to dodge the missiles using flares (fireworks from Roman candles attached to the back of the car), the document said, citing an email written by Choi.

The affidavit also details text messages exchanged between Choi and the camera company he used for filming. In a message to Choi, the sender wrote an idea about cameras capturing “insane 360-degree bumpers being fired with firecrackers.”

In response, Choi allegedly wrote that he could “take my friend out with a helicopter and attach cameras to the helicopter while he chases me.”

“I can even have someone sit in the helicopter and ask them to shoot fireworks at me,” he said in another text, according to the affidavit.

Federal authorities said radar data from the day the video was filmed showed the helicopter left an airport in Pacoima, California, around 1:53 p.m. and headed toward El Mirage Lake, a dry lake in California. , where the video was filmed.

The helicopter's transponder was then turned off, according to the affidavit. The helicopter reappeared on radar and returned to the airport shortly before 9 p.m., the document said.

The pilot initially told an FAA inspector that he knew nothing about the El Mirage video, according to the affidavit. In a follow-up call, he told detectives he didn't want Choi to know he was talking to them and said “Choi was performing dangerous activities involving cars and planes.”

In January, the FAA issued an emergency order revoking the pilot's private pilot certification, the affidavit states.

The FAA also interviewed a drone operator who said he was concerned about filming the video and that he “tried to stay away and behind the helicopter” during filming. The drone operator said he did not remember any rescuers being there.

A second drone operator said that before filming began, there was “a discussion about safety that he described as spontaneous and where Choi was speaking,” according to the affidavit.

The incident comes months after another YouTuber was sentenced to six months in federal prison after intentionally crashing a small plane to increase video views as part of an endorsement deal.

Trevor Jacob, of Lompoc, pleaded guilty last year to one count of destruction 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.