Guy Arrested After Acting Like a Jerk While Shooting Car Crash Video

By Kevin Eck 

An Ohio man was arrested after he witnessed a car crash involving two teenagers, used his cellphone to shoot video of one teen as he was dying, called both teens “idiots,” and later tried to sell the video to local TV stations.

Paul Pelton was arrested and charged with vehicular trespass for opening the back door and leaning into one of the cars to shoot cellphone video of the wreck.

“We searched to try to find anything to charge him with,” police detective Buddy Sivert told Reuters. “It is not a crime to stick a camera where a kid is dying or try to sell it.”

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WABC reports “Pelton mocked the teens in the video, repeatedly calling them “idiots.” At one point, he opened the doors of the vehicle and filmed the boys inside. A neighbor is seen running to help the teens, but police say Pelton himself never offered any aid.”

“He’s not at the crime scene to try to assist anybody,” said Lorain Police Detective Sergeant Buddy Sivert told ABC affiliate WEWS-TV. “He’s there for his own gain. Then he breaks the law by trespassing into someone’s vehicle.”

Police say Pelton did not offer to give the video to police who responded to the scene. Instead, he posted the video on Facebook and then approached at least two news organizations to “sell the video of the dying and injured boys for a profit,” police say. Those news organizations turned his offer down.

When police found the video on social media, they decided to charge Pelton with vehicle trespassing, a misdemeanor.

“Had he videotaped it across the street, we wouldn’t have an issue with it,” Sivert said. “The issue started when he entered the vehicle to take the video and the fact that he’s videotaping two young men who were, one critically injured, one seriously injured.”

“I want to offer a public apology to the families of the kids that got injured or deceased in the car accident,” Pelton said in a video obtained by WOIO. “I never intended it to be a video that came across as a gore video. I wanted to put the video out there so other kids could see it and learn from the mistake of speeding and driving recklessly.”

Pelton also now claims he didn’t try to sell the video. Instead, he says he offered to give the video to news organizations for free in exchange for a donation to his private charity.

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