Photos courtesy of Ryan Hackbarth

At 16 and bored with the outdoorsy Tahoe routine, Moment skiers Jordan Spohr decided to pull off an ambitious prank that involves crashing through the ceiling of the local Rite Aid in a ridiculous outfit during business hours – what ended up being a solid 22-foot plunge. While Spohr escaped the store and mobbed into a waiting car, the crew were quickly identified and Spohr went to juvenile detention for felony vandalism. Here Jordan recounts his colorful teenage days:

 How did you guys come up with the idea for this prank?

Growing up in Truckee is a bittersweet thing, especially in the summertime. You can only hike and camp and do hippy stuff for so long without getting bored. At 16, I was more reckless than I am these days, which says a lot.

The complex in Truckee where Rite Aid is has a Round Table Pizza next to it. One day we were skating in the back and I saw a pipe you could climb up to get to the roof (which is still there), so we climbed up and were running around, skating on the roof, throwing shit a people, then we found an unlocked door. It was a long forgotten attic.

The attic space.

We replaced the burnt out light bulb and would kick it in this little room. We were watching people shop right below through the cracks in the boards in the floor.

At this time in my life, we were filming a CKY type video. When I was younger, one of my biggest dreams was to be on Jackass, so we would blow shit up, hurt ourselves, mix in skating, shredding , graffiti, and all sorts of stupid stuff. I wanted to bring shit to the next level. I love startling people, so this was the obvious thing to do.

Lay out the execution, step by step:

1. We pull up in the back of the building

2. I jump out of the car in Batman whitie tighties, Iron Maiden high top Vans, and a bandana around my face, and I climb up this pipe.

3. The filmer sets up his tripod in the parking lot.

4. I enter the attic and pull up a small board and swim though the fiber glass insulation, which I overlooked in the planning stage.

5. I find myself dangling from a water pipe with nothing below me but one of those compressed ceiling panels that kids throw pencils at in school.

6. At this point I was questing what I was doing. It could have been me itching everywhere from the fiberglass or the fact I couldn’t see what was on the otter side of that ceiling panel.

How did you get into the ceiling of the Rite Aid and what was it like crawling around in there?

A crowbar, and it was itchy.

Describe what happened from when you crashed through the ceiling through to the escape:

We didn’t set up a signal for when I should drop, but then I heard 3 loud car horn honks and I realize this was like that scene in 8 Mile. I let go of that water pipe and the next chain of events made my life get more interesting/hectic.

It was about a 22 foot drop from where I was. My feet hit the ceiling panel and dust explodes everywhere and the panel folds and blows up. As I came through the ceiling, I saw 3 Rite Aid customers below me. I hit the ground within 5 feet of 3 people, screams ringing out as the remaining ceiling rains down. I make eye contact with this old man and he dropped his milk on the ground. I stand up and run out of the store across the parking lot with dozens of people in awe. I jump in a car and take off.

What was the reaction of people in the store?

Sheer terror, then bewilderment.

 Who snitched on you?

My understanding was that a girl shopping in Rite Aid recognized the filmer, and the police went right to his house and questioned him. He hadn’t uploaded the video yet, and they confiscated his camera and ID me in the tape, and the tape went to evidence. You should have a BroBomb contest for someone to try and get it out of evidence.

What did you end up getting charged with?

Felony Vandalism, because they had to shut down the store and look for bombs and stuff, and Rite Aid claimed they lost X amount of revenue in that time for it to get bumped up to a felony. As a kid, I really took advantage of juvenile records getting wiped out and sealed at 18.

And then you went to juvy, correct?  Can you describe that experience?

It was my second time going to juvy. The first time I got snitched on for graff (graffiti) and then I ran and was a refugee for a little while. Juvy sucks. The juvy all the Truckee kids go to is in Grass Valley. When I got arrested and put in the car, my hands were cuffed behind me and the pig didn’t put my seat belt on. To get to Grass Valley you drive on highway 20, which is crazy curvy, so because I had my hands cuffed behind me and no seat belt, I kept smashing my face on the window and cage on each turn for an hour.

In juvy all the Mexican kids kept giving me shit for having a goggle tan, they didn’t understand what it was. No one believed me about how I got in there until my dad snuck the newspaper clipping in my school book, then they were like “White boy’s crazy,” and then they liked me.

I heard some crazy stories about kids in that juvy, a couple of years before, like late at night a kid stuffed his blanket in the cracks of the door and sealed himself off in his concrete room and then clogged and overflowed his toilet until his room filled up enough to swim around. When it started leaking, the staff opened the door, and a cascade of water overflowed from the second story to the first. I heard about an escape, learned all about sketchy things, I don’t know.

#yolo, Mr. Tough Guy.

What do you think of all this looking back?

#yolo. I’m glad I took advantage of the sealing of juvenile records at 18. Hopefully I inspired some mayhem. I just wish I could have seen the aftermath of the old man dropping and spilling the milk. I played it in my head like this: He went home and his wife asked him where the milk was and then he tells her the story of what happened at Rite Aid, then his wife freaks out because she thinks he is lying, they get into a fight, she lets it slip that she’s been cheating on him with that creepy guy scary Lary then they end up getting a divorce. Butterfly effects, man……

The Hood Crew interviews Jordan about this event and other run-ins with the law.  Oh Spohr…