TIFFIN, Ohio (AP) - A college freshman died after falling from a moving pickup truck in a stunt possibly inspired by the television show "Jackass," authorities said.
Adam Ports, 18, and three fellow students at Tiffin University set a chair on fire and threw it from the back of a moving truck Tuesday night while friends photographed the stunt. Ports then jumped or fell from the truck as it sped away on a country road, officials said.
He died Wednesday from head injuries.
"They were trying to create some type of stunt like they have on the TV show 'Jackass,'" Seneca County sheriff's Sgt. Brian Hescht wrote in a report. The now-defunct MTV show of crude stunts was made into a movie that debuted last month.
MTV/Paramount spokeswoman Marnie Malter denied that the show was to blame.
"The police report that was filed makes it clear that this incident has no connection to any stunts performed on the 'Jackass' television show or film," Malter said.
"Jackass" has drawn criticism in the past for allegedly encouraging dangerous behavior.
After one show showed a man in a fireproof suit being set ablaze on a grill, a few imitators were burned trying to perform their own variations.
A New Hampshire boy said he was inspired by "Jackass" to ignite lamp oil on a 12-year-old friend, who suffered burns over 30 percent of his body last year. Last week, a 15-year-boy in Seattle suffered severe burns after he and his friends soaked his T-shirt in alcohol and lit it on fire. Officers said they were attempting a "Jackass" stunt.
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