CLARENCE, N.Y. – A 17-year-old boy in western New York has been charged with a misdemeanor after he put ketchup on his arms and faked his suicide on a live video Web site, police said.
Troopers got several calls Tuesday night about a young man broadcasting a suicide attempt over the Internet, state police said. The calls came from as far away as Israel, where the Web site is hosted, said Capt. Steven Nitrelli.
Police traced the computer address to a home in the Buffalo suburb of Clarence. The teen admitted the hoax and insisted it was just a joke, Nitrelli said.
The teen was charged with one third-degree count of falsely reporting an incident. He is to return to town court Oct. 29.
Police withheld his name because of his age.
In August, a 21-year-old man in Lockport, N.Y., near Buffalo, was charged with aggravated harassment and falsely reporting an incident for using a webcam to stage a fake suicide, pretending to slit his wrists.
In 2007, a 42-year-old man in England committed suicide by hanging while broadcasting to an Internet chat room via webcam. A chat room user notified police, who found him dead.
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