LawFuel.com – Will law suits follow the Mythbusters TV stunt that went awry when an errant cannonball entered a family home and then a parked van several hundred feet away?
TV stunts often have a habit of going wrong and can lead to legal issues from damages claims to prosecutions.
The Mythbusters show, produced by the Discovery Channel, involved the firing of a cannonball at the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department bomb range behind the Santa Rita Jail when it misfired.
Sheriff’s spokesman JD Nelson told the Contra Costa Times that no one was injured and the home’s residents didn’t even wake up until the dust was settled – literally on top of them.
The cannonball went straight through the wall.
Nelson, who is also a consultant for the show, said producers have used the cannon that they built at the range more than 50 times without incident.
The cannonball was supposed to go through a few water-filled barrels and a concrete wall. Instead, it passed over the barrels, through the wall, and then took a “very unfortunate bounce that sent the ball skyward,” Nelson said.
About 700 feet away, it bounced in front of the Dublin home before tearing through the front door and out a wall when it bounced at least once more before smashing the window on the minivan.
