Motorcyclist who recorded joyride through Carleton University tunnels could face mischief charge

One day after catching the eye of Ottawa police and Carleton University security officials, a video of a motorcycle joyride through the underground pedestrian tunnels under the Ontario university campus has been removed from YouTube and the person who posted it is disavowing knowledge of the situation.

The six-minute video, titled "Underground Carelton (sic) U tunnels, I rode them, it was loud, and slippery," was shot from the perspective of the motorcycle driver, likely via a Go Pro helmet camera, and shows the motorist gunning through the tunnel system at high speeds before awkwardly pushing his vehicle through a door and into the black of night.

The video was posted on Sunday by a user known as "Logan M", but it is not clear when it had been shot. University officials say that is part of an ongoing investigation. The video had been removed from YouTube on Tuesday in what was likely an attempt at damage control, considering the actions captured in the video could result is several charged.

Ottawa police told Yahoo Canada News that as of Tuesday morning, no one had filed an official complaint about the incident. But police had been in contact with the university and are monitoring the situation.

A police spokesman said trespassing charges could apply to the situation, as could criminal offenses such as mischief and dangerous driving.

Carlton University media relations officer Steven Reid told Yahoo Canada News that a special constable had been assigned to investigate the incident.

"We were looking into the very basics: Who the individual may be, if we could identify them, and also when the incident took place. We know when the YouTube video was posted but we don't have a timeline in terms of when the incident took place," Reid said.

Part of that investigation will be reviewing footage captured by the network of tunnel security cameras, once the timeline has been narrowed down.

As for identifying the suspect, that will be step one for any investigation. The Ottawa Citizen has linked the YouTube user "Logan M" to Logan Murphy, a former Canadian Army reservist originally from Port Hope, Ont.

Murphy told the Citizen that he had posted the video "for a friend".

“I cannot comment on whether or not it was me actually riding that motorcycle in the video. It could have been anyone,” he told the newspaper.

This may be the dumbest and most dangerous thing to happen in Carlton University's labyrinth of underground tunnels, but it is certainly not the first bizarre incident to happen there.

Videos archived on YouTube show a bevy of incidents, from a student casually catching a ride on the back of a cart to two students ripping around on an apparently hijacked maintenance vehicle.

There is even video of a four-person marching band making, err, music as they wander through the halls.

None of this compares, of course, to the ignorance and stupidity that comes with riding a dangerous motor vehicle through a narrow pathway designed and dedicated to foot transit, around sharp turns and into blind intersections.

Thankfully no one was hurt. That would have added a new list of possible charges the driver could face.

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