Basejumper.com - archive

Just wondering what people who have been busted have been charged with or what have they attempted to charge you with.

Once they attempted to charge me with 'destruction of real property'. They said we damaged the door to gain access to a roof. We got off of the charges because 1. we didn't damage anything and 2. the video proved it and 3. it was a bogus charge only to try to make us pay a fine because they didn't have anything else to charge us with.

What have they tried or succeeded with charging you for?

When Carl Boenish, Dave Blattel, John Noak and I jumped from the Royal Gorge Bridge in 1979, the Canon City authorities first called the FAA to see what they could charge us with.

"What's the tail number of the airplane?" the FAA guys asked.

"There was no airplane," said the CC officials. "They jumped off our bridge with parachutes."

"If there is no airplane involved, why are you calling us?" asked the FAA guys.

So then the CC officials briefly considered charging us with throwing objects from the bridge (ourselves) because that was all they had. Fortunately, they did not have the same mentality as NPS tools so they discarded that notion as silly -- and after getting a lecture for doing something that might give impressionable children the wrong idea, we were set free, whereupon we packed our parachutes on the police department lawn while doing radio and TV interviews.

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In addition to the OP's questions. Has anyone ever been charged with one thing, had another added at the time of arraignment, and then had a charge changed by prosecution due to lack of response from the object's owner?

Evading arrest and Criminal Trespass on critical infrastructure.

1. that fucking stupid, gay, idiotic, retarded federal law "illegal ariel delivery"

2. disrupting raptor bird fucking..I mean nesting

3. entering a closed area--- for flowers growing or some shit

Fuck I hate the N P S!!!!!!!!

A. Trespassing

B. Disturbing the Peace

C. Wanton destruction of property

Unsafe activity in a State Park. (California)

1) Trespassing: very nearly $1/foot (±$3) on the antenna
2) Stunting: Highway Traffic Act "catch all" for when there is no other applicable rule on the books. Apparently I *could have* caused a distraction to vehicular traffic. At 02:30.

Similar to Robin's post above, they threatened to get Transport Canada (Canada's FAA) to charge me with something. They *really* didn't like it when I then told them that no aircraft were involved so TC wouldn't be interested, which turned out to be true.

Neither charge was criminal and it only cost me one Saturdays' worth of overtime, so it was easier to pay the fine and get my gear back than to wait 8 months for the court date to fight it.

Reckless Endangerment.

not much to add other than to say I love these kinds of threads

for those who got trespassing charges, if you'd like to share for our education, what made the difference between you getting simple or criminal trespassing (I understand criminal trespassing to be much heavier penalties than simple).

Once court gets settled, i'll let you know. Maybe others can chime in, in the mean time.

In my above case, they also threatened me with breaking and entering (criminal), but on this particular antenna there was only a 7 foot chain link fence with no barbed wire on top, then you step directly onto the antenna ladder. A 7-year old could have done it. I never damaged anything so they knew that it wouldn't stick in court and dropped it.

Security hardware on this antenna has since increased considerably, to the point that it is not worth the trouble.

Simple trespass is for something very innocuous, to the point of being accidental, such as driving a few feet onto a private farm road to pee. Everything else is criminal trespass and of course depends on your state laws. In a lot of states, trespassing on a radio tower is a class A misdemeanor, which is one level less than a felony. It's classified this way because it is declared critical infrastructure, such as at a refinery. However, here in Texas, a friend of mine got the same charge (class A) for trespassing into a 6 flags at night. His charges stuck. It's also a charge used for trespassing on nuclear towers, power plants, super fund sites, and private habitations.

I've never heard of that one Nick. Wonder how they determine what is "safe", or the degree's of safety... lot's of factors.


Yeah Hank, I can see how they could pin that one on ya, haa haa. I'm guilty too, but not officially.


I've gotten the reduction because I made it VERY clear that I had NO criminal intent, to the judge. I didn't damage, steal or change anything from the site. I was using it as a gateway to my purpose of being there, the exit. I do agree that I was trespassing so can't complain.

Also; Illegal Air delivery: (squared)... This one is the most redickulASS, using an old law that was originally set so people couldn't stock backcountry camps using an airplane. Yeah, good idea but to bleed that law into jumping off cliffs? Come ON!

They did change the wording and added something about personal delivery under a parachute. Or maybe they just penciled that in on the fly?

There's the Breaking and Entering charge, as well. Never gotten that one, because I've never broke anything to gain access.

I once got charged with "Endangering Plant Life" (non
-BASE)... I shit you not for climbing a historic tree called "The Muir Tree", they said I pulled some needles off the tree as i climbed it and possibly broke a branch. WTF? Got dropped, of course.

Ok, those are my skeletons... nothing new here. yYAAARrrr!

OH WAIT! I did get the Destruction of City Property...

MAN she came out of nowhere and had to adjust at the last second... pulled that street light fixture straight down, glass everywhere. Whooops!

I wasn't knew...




Or, was I?

Oh, and excellent tale robinheid

How much was the fine? Not including rescue.

Ended up with just an "administrative probation", of which I've never heard of, basically I'll pay $50 a month for 6 months. And as long as i stay out of trouble, all the charges go away completely. Not a bad deal.

Yea the unsafe gaming in a state park is so they can use it for anything they cant find a specific law for. Talked to a cop about that one. So stupid.

I know that being in a State Park after dark with Slambo is considered to be a dangerous activity in every county in California and three in Nevada. They take the transmission of STDs seriously. I wholeheartedly support them.

Has anyone / how many people that've been busted, also made the news?