Italian authorities are searching for a man who jumped off a three-storey building into a canal in Venice on Thursday. Sharing a video of the incident on Twitter, Venice's Mayor Luigi Brugnaro called the man an "idiot" and said that he would give him a "certificate of stupidity and a lot of kicks".
The video showed the unidentified man wearing only boxer shorts jumping nearly 30 feet into one of Venice's famous canals. He was also filmed emerging from the water, apparently unharmed, and being handed a towel by a waiting friend.
"This "subject" should be given a certificate of STUPIDITY and a lot of kicks ... we are trying to identify him, to report him, him and his buddy below who made the stupid video for social media," Mr Brugnaro wrote in Italian.
Watch the video below:
According to CNN, the mayor stated that the man and his accomplice who took the video will be arrested. He also added that he sent police to the building to determine how the man was able to enter the private residential building and how he was able to get to the rooftop.
"He risked his life in that jump, but he is also a delinquent. They don't understand the danger they create in this city. What if a boat would have been passing below?" said Mr Brugnaro.
The mayor further expressed his dislike for stunts performed to garner social media clout. He urged anyone who has seen the video to help identify the person - who he referred to as a tourist - but he also asked not the "like" the video on social media.
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"They do these stupid things on social for the likes," the mayor said, adding that "we will use the law to prosecute him."
Meanwhile, this incident is just the latest account of people, especially tourists, behaving badly in Italy. According to CNN, last year, over 40 tourists were arrested for swimming in Venice canals and one man was arrested for surfing down the Grand Canal.
An American tourist was also fined for causing $25,000 worth of damage after throwing her e-scooter down the Spanish Steps in Rome. and in a separate incident, a Saudi tourist was fined after he drove a rented Maserati down the Spanish Steps.
