8booth, when he was still a free man. Photo: YouTube
The masked dude who’s been jumping from cliffs—and allegedly buildings and balconies off limits to the public—into water around Orange County and racking up nearly 14 million YouTube views with his GoPro footage was arrested Wednesday morning by Laguna Beach Police.
The alleged serial hucker, 28-year-old Anthony Booth Armer–known as 8booth on some of his social media handles—often wore a bandana over his face, or a mask and snorkel (our favorite). He’s facing two misdemeanor counts of unauthorized entry and a misdemeanor count of trespassing, according to the OC Register.
Other than the rush, it’s not clear what Armer might’ve wanted to get from his recent jumps, though he’s built a huge online fanbase, with 275,000 Instagram followers. Reporters told Armer the cops were looking for him. Using his middle name as part of his handle, he must’ve figured his fence-hopping, building-leaping shenanigans were not for long.
During his cliff jump in Crystal Cove, he told a television reporter he felt “sheer terror,” adding “but you know what, for the industry, for what it’s worth, I love pushing it. I love filming.” We’re not entirely sure which industry.
Remarkably, for all his leaps into shallow water, some with technical, precise landings, 8booth walked away with just a scrape on his back from Crystal Cove. The YouTube page of his leap from a building into Newport Harbor says the jump was 129 feet.
In today’s economy, Armer could conceivably cash in his social media fame. For just a few misdemeanor charges, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him endorsing clothes or signing a deal for a reality TV show (he sometimes pushed a clothing line in his imagery). But in his police mugshot, he can be seen smiling broadly. As if he knows something we don’t. And he might.
“A lot of people think it’s stupid,” he told CBS. “But you know what, I think it’s stupid to sit in a cubicle all day.”
