Paul Pelton 'breaks into car after crash and records video of injured teen'

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Paul Pelton, 41, of Ohio, charged with vehicular trespass after he leaned into wrecked car and videotaped two gravely injured teenagers
Driver Zachary Goodin, 17, was hurt but survived; passenger Cameron Friend, also 17, succumbed to his injuries suffered in Monday crash
Police in Lorain, Ohio, say instead of trying to help the teens, Pelton called them 'idiots' and leaned inside car to shoot closeups
The 41-year-old then posted video on Facebook and offered it to two local stations
Pelton later defended his actions saying his goal was to educate people about the dangers of speeding

By Reuters and Snejana Farberov For Dailymail.com

Published: 16:37 EST, 16 July 2015 | Updated: 22:48 EST, 16 July 2015

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When Paul Pelton came upon a fiery car wreck involving two teenage boys Monday night, police say instead of coming to the victims’ aid he grabbed his cellphone and began recording video while calling the victims ‘idiots.’

In a twist straight out of the 2014 thriller Nightcrawler starring Jake Gyllenhaal as a psychopathic videographer, investigators in Lorain say the 41-year-old then unsuccessfully tried to sell the gruesome footage depicting the two injured occupants of the smashed-up car, one of whom later died, to at least two local news stations.

On Wednesday, Pelton was charged with vehicular trespass for opening a back door and leaning into the wrecked vehicle.

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'Ghoul': Paul Pelton, 41, of Ohio, has been charged with vehicular trespass after he leaned into a wrecked car and recorded video showing two gravely injured teenagers

Victims: Cameron Friend (left), 17, was a passenger in the car that crashed in Lorain, Ohio, Monday. He later died from his injuries. Zachary Goodin (right), who was the driver, remains in stable condition

Heartless: Police say instead of trying to assist the injured boys, Pelton grabbed his cellphone and began shooting video of the wrecked vehicle (pictured)

Opportunistic: Pelton later posted the video on Facebook and then tried to sell it to two local news station

The crash involved Zachary Goodin and Cameron Friend, both 17.

Friend, who was a passenger, was taken to Mercy Regional Medical Center where he died of his injuries. Goodin was listed in a stable condition Tuesday.

Neighbors tried to help the pair while Pelton filmed, and at no time did he try to assist, police said.

Pelton, of Lorain, was arrested and charged with a fourth-degree misdemeanor for entering what police said was a crime scene, not for taking the video or trying to sell it to news organizations after posting it to Facebook, Lorain Police Detective Buddy Sivert said.

Pelton committed a crime only when he entered the car without permission, Sivert said. If convicted, he faces a maximum of 30 days in jail and a $250 fine.

Man charged for filming teen's dying moments after crash

Zachary Goodin was speeding when he lost control of his the 1999 Honda ULX, pictured in screengrabs from another cellphone video, as it crossed railroad tracks in the 400 block of Kansas Avenue

No sympathy: According to local police, the 41-year-old bystander called the victims 'idiots' in his video (not pictured)

‘We searched to try to find anything to charge him with,’ Sivert said. ‘It is not a crime to stick a camera where a kid is dying or try to sell it.’

Pelton posted bond and was released, Sivert said. No court date has been set as of Thursday evening.

Speaking to reporters from Fox8 and other local stations outside his house Thursday, Pelton defended his actions, claiming that his real goal was to remind people to be careful on the road, not to make a snuff film.

‘I just wanted to educate people to slow down,’ he said. ‘I didn't do that to have some type of gore video.’

Pelton apologized to the families of Friend and Goodin on Facebook, but maintained that it was not his intention to profit from the tragedy. According to 19 Action News, he challenged the claim that he had tried to sell the video, stating that he offered it to news stations in exchange for a donation to his charity of choice.

Zachary Goodin was speeding when he lost control of his the 1999 Honda ULX as it crossed railroad tracks in the 400 block of Kansas Avenue at around 12.45am Monday.

The vehicle slammed into a parked SUV and a tree before it careened into a house and burst into flames, police said.

Investigators do not believe that drugs or alcohol played a role in the tragic collision.

According to a press release from the Lorain Police Department released, while several neighbors from nearby homes rushed to the mangled vehicle to assist the gravely injured teenagers, Pelton ‘took the opportunity to video this horrible scene with his cell phone.’

Life imitating art: Pelton's (left) case resembles the plot of the 2014 film Nightcrawler, where Jake Gyllenhaal (right) plays a psychopathic videographer who shoots footage of gruesome crimes and accidents for money

Police say in his video, the 41-year-old called the badly hurt friends ‘idiots,’ and then opened the back door and leaned inside so he could capture the dying passenger and the incapacitated driver up close.

He allegedly offered the content to NewsNet5 and at least one other station, but both declined to purchase it.

Investigators say at no time did Pelton attempt to assist, or even comfort, Friend and Goodin as they were awaiting paramedics.

Pelton, on his part, claimed that he only opened the rear door because he thought he spotted some movement in the backseat and wanted to see if there were victims there he could help.

The bizarre case bears strong resemblance to the plot of the critically acclaimed neo-noir drama Nightcrawler, where Jake Gyllenhaal plays petty criminal Louis Bloom who starts shooting footage of gruesome crimes and accidents in Los Angeles, and then hawking his videos to local news stations.