'Man arrested for giving people wedgies'

Man arrested for giving people wedgies
Posted: Jan 15, 2013 7:49 AM PST Updated: Jan 15, 2013 3:32 PM PST
By: Kristin Wright, FOX 13 News

BRADENTON (AP) -

He's a prankster. He kisses strangers. He crawls under moving vehicles. He pretends to sleep on busy highways.

But 18-year-old Charles Ross may have taken his stunts too far Sunday. He ended up in jail and charged with misdemeanor battery. Ross was arrested at the Royal Palm movie theater in Bradenton where he was giving people he didn't know 'wedgies' and recording it.

Ross bonded out of jail Monday.

"It's supposed to be a joke. Some people can find the humor and laugh at it. Others can't," said Ross, who says he does understand why some people get offended by his antics.

Ross' YouTube channel has five million views and counting. He has partnered with YouTube and expects to start getting paid through advertisers.

But at what price?

In one prank, Ross climbs into the cars of strangers, while they're sitting in traffic. He tells one man who is behind the wheel: "Sorry, I'm late, dude." The man angrily responds "Dude, get the f*** out of my truck."

More than a million people in the state of Florida have concealed weapons permits. Ross says the potential danger in crossing into people's personal space has crossed his mind.

"I recognize the dangers of it. If I get shot, it happens," Ross said.

Attorney and legal expert Jeff Brown says if Ross isn't careful, a so-called prank could easily end up one of Florida's Stand Your Ground battles.

"If she's at a light and this guy dives into her car and she's petrified that he's coming toward her and (thinks) he's going to hurt her or harm her, I think she can pull out a gun and shoot him under the Stand Your Ground law," Brown explained.

Ross says he has been shoved, but nothing more. He calls his pranks an adrenaline rush and says he always gets permission from his subjects to publish video of the stunts after the fact.

Ross was also arrested in November after he did a flip over a Sarasota County Sheriff's deputy, who was sitting on a bench. He was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. Ross will appear in court on those charges next month.