YouTube daredevil uses duck mask to evade police after skyscraper stunt

YouTube daredevil Ben ‘Reckless Ben’ Schnieder narrowly missed being caught illegally walking a tightrope across two Los Angeles skyscrapers, so he wore a duck mask the next time he went near the area.

The two buildings are a part of Oceanwide Plaza, known as the Graffiti Towers, due to it being vacant for several years and artists sneaking in to find a spot to feature their work.

Reckless Ben told KTLA 5 that he was able to sneak onto the property on May 12 by going there with a group of friends holding signs stating “Jesus saves” that were used to block the police point of view.

From there, Ben and his team strung two nylon straps across two of the structures as he prepared to walk across them.

Police quickly realized trespassers were on the property and began looking for the team. Ben hid inside a bathtub covered with plywood for several hours before exiting the building without getting in trouble.

Concerned that he may be caught and arrested, and not wanting to put a pause on his stunts — Reckless Ben decided to use a duck mask to disguise himself.

“I’m wearing a mask because there’s an active investigation on me right now, and there are police officers right behind me that will definitely arrest me if they see my face,” he told Fox 11 LA.

When asked about the dangers of his stunts, Ben told KTLA that he’s well aware of what could happen.

“Everything’s dangerous. Driving a car is dangerous, but we still drive. The stunt I did was dangerous but I think the reward outweighed the risk because I think we inspired a lot of people,” he said.

“I got to push myself out of my comfort zone. We got to do something scary and inspire the world to go live their best life.”

Ben is just the latest YouTuber to go viral after doing a stunt. On May 1, 2024, a car-focused creator went viral after wrecking his $1.4M McLaren Senna in a viral video.