YouTuber hit with 18 charges after ‘tearing up’ protected creek in pickup truck
‘It’s insane, the fact that I’m in as much legal trouble for this,’ says Michael Hyssong
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Your support makes all the difference.A Philadelphia-based YouTuber has been charged with 18 criminal counts after recording himself driving through and jumping over a stream in a $70,000 (£50,268) pickup truck.
Michael Hyssong, known by his YouTube name Street Speed 717, published a video of himself driving his Dodge Ram TRX through a York County creek on 20 January.
His actions, which he filmed and uploaded to his YouTube channel in a video that has since accumulated more than 1 million views, was reported by an anonymous tipster to the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission and the York County District Attorney’s Office.
Following the anonymous tip, investigators visited the creek and noticed damage to the area, including the stream banks, which “were torn up by tire tracks,” according to an affidavit obtained by The Philadelphia Inquirer.
The investigators also claimed that the fields next to the creek were damaged and discovered a ramp built next to the stream.
On 26 February, Mr Hyssong was charged with 18 criminal counts, eight of which were misdemeanours, including misuse of property and waters, disturbing waterways or watersheds and allowing a substance harmful to fish to fall in the river.
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Mr Hyssong has also been charged with littering near waters and running a vehicle in a stream, with his preliminary hearing scheduled for 19 April.
Speaking about the charges in his subsequent YouTube videos, Mr Hyssong said: “It’s insane, the fact that I’m in as much legal trouble for this as if I drove drunk, but that’s Pennsylvania.”
He then claimed that the stream is “not a habitat”, adding: “I’ve never seen any fish in there… it’s not a habitat, it’s like a runoff creek.”
The YouTuber, who has around 1.14 million subscribers, said that he was on private property at the time of the video and added about the charges: “The people who wrote this must really hate me.”
Although the creek is located on private property, its water is connected to other larger streams located in the area, according to the Inquirer.
The Independent has contacted Mr Hyssong, the fish and boat commission and the York County District Attorney’s Office for comment.
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