[DanielBMarkham]

Two things strike me as sad:

1) This type of reckless, non-violent, anti-social behavior in young males has been quite common for all of recorded history. It's a shame it has to involve so much money and international crime nowadays.

2) We remember everything now. No more can you do some bone-headed thing in your teens that cost 400K and got you sent to juvenile hall for a year, then move on with your life. Now it's all over the interwebs.

I feel sorry for the guy. Don't get me wrong: this was a lot more dangerous than it seemed to him, and something had to be done. Still, as the author points out, this is a shame.

[danielweber]

Is it really "non-violent" to make the cops think there is a hostage situation going on?

[DanielBMarkham]

Fair point, and I debated making that statement.

I do not believe this kid was purposefully being violent. I do believe what he did could have had terribly violent results. But until I receive additional information to the contrary, I'm going to assume that he was engaged in a prank -- a very dumb prank.