Ottawa police say charges will be laid against the man behind the 24-hour overnight challenges. In his latest challenge, Jay Station, as he calls himself, claims to break in to a house and spend the night there with a friend.
While police believe this video is a hoax, his actions elsewhere are not.
He has spent the night hiding in the Bay in downtown Ottawa, at TD Place after a RedBlacks game, even at a bowling alley.
His antics are frustrating police but making him money. He calls his latest challenge his craziest yet.
“Today we're doing an overnight challenge at a stranger’s house,” he says in his video, as his partner and he sneak in through an unlocked window where no one is home. Ottawa Police were called after the video aired on YouTube; their investigators determined the tenant was in on it.
“We've confirmed that the whole matter was staged,” says Staff-Sergeant Mike Haarbosch, with the Ottawa Police Robbery and Break and Enter Unit.
The house runs off Main Street in an area heavily populated by university students. When CTV arrived, two students were at the front door, waiting to be shown one of the apartment to possibly rent. We showed them the video from YouTube.
“If that was real,” says uOttawa student Tyler Wisner, “sure that would be shocking but I think it's funny.”
“Knowing the tenant was in on it, it doesn't worry me as much,” says fellow student hakim McDowell, “but it's an odd concept, coming into a house like that.”
The owner has been trying to sell it. While the tenants weren't home when CTV was there, the owner of the property was; not too impressed with the people who shot the video or the people who rented his house. He's now considering suing the man behind Jay Station, 26-year-old Jason Ethier, who says he is getting rich doing these videos. Ethier wouldn't agree to a television interview but over the phone told CTV, "I was going to stop doing them, but I'm getting payments. I've gotten rich off this."
How rich? It's hard to say but generally, YouTube pays between $2 to $4 per thousand views. So, the million plus views for the REDBLACKS stadium video probably netted him about $3000. There are ads on top of that as well that would bring in revenue.
What it has also netted him is the attention of the police, despite Ethier’s recent assertions that he is only “working to go with the law.”
The Ottawa Police say they completed their consultation with Crown Attorney’s office and are in the process of processing a number of charges under the trespassing act.
“I would suggest that he's already caught,” says S-Sgt. Haarbosch, “We are in midst of processing a number of charges so he will have his day in court.”
