Global Courant
A man is charged with breaking into a Florida theme park, jumping into a crocodile enclosure and filming a video for social media — a dangerous stunt that authorities say led to his arrest.
Police in Tampa Bay say Jacob Pursifull, 20, jumped a fence on June 1 to illegally enter the Busch Gardens theme park. He and two others went to the park’s crocodile enclosure, which is equipped with two layers of metal fencing, footage from the incident shows. .
Authorities say Pursifull entered the perimeter fence while one of the people with him was recording him, according to a press release from the Tampa Police Department.
Onlookers can be seen in a video posted to social media showing Pursifull inside the enclosure, with some yelling at him to get out and that getting so close to the reptiles was dangerous. Footage of the incident went viral online.
“Another Wild Karen. Crikey!” Pursifull can be heard in a clip quoted by CNN affiliate WBBH.
It is unclear whether Pursifull has legal representation.
According to authorities, he posted a video of the incident on social media. No video of the incident is currently appearing on social media accounts that appear to belong to Pursifull.
Tampa police say clues from social media helped investigators identify and arrest Pursifull.
He was taken into custody Monday on charges of theft of services, trespassing and burglary of an occupied building, according to the police release and the Hillsborough County Jail website.
Pursifull was released on Tuesday with US$8,500 bail, booking information showed.
It’s unclear whether the two other people who police say snuck into the theme park with Pursifull will be prosecuted. Tampa police did not immediately respond to a CNN investigation.
