Instant Replay to Decide Whether Obama Streaker Wins $1 Million
Oct. 12, 2010— -- The fate of a $1 million prize promised to a man who streaked through a President Obama rally wearing nothing but a web address inked across his chest has gone to instant replay.
Alki David, the billionaire who promised the hefty sum to anyone who would run naked within sight and earshot of the president, will decide Wednesday about whether or not streaker Juan Rodriguez gets the payout, a spokesman told ABC News today.
David's team has been reviewing Rodriguez's naked moment in the spotlight from several different camera angles "to see if he was in eyesight or ear shot" of the president, spokesman Jason Magner said.
Rodriguez, 24, was also required to shout the name of David's video sharing and broadcasting web site, Battlecam.com, six times as he streaked, which David's people will also be verifying.
The noton that David is even considering withholding the money on a technicality has prompted some to cry foul.
"I think he should get his money," said Michael Risch, associate professor at Villanova University School of Law. He called David "chintzy" for suggesting that Rodriguez may not have qualified for the payout.
Rodriguez, 24, claims his cheeky sprint for cash got him within 10 feet of the president -- a distance that would have likely alarmed the Secret Service – before stopping and submitting to arrest. He was charged with indecent exposure, open lewdness and disorderly conduct.
The streaker told reporters after getting out of jail that he volunteered for the prank to provide for his children and pay for surgery for his sister.
"I didn't do anything that hurt anybody," the Philadelphia Inquirer quoted Rodriguez as saying outside the jail. "My family needs the money."
But almost immediately David began citing technicalities that could prevent Rodriguez from collecting the $1 million.
"It's still not confirmed," David told the New York Daily News on Monday. "Whether he was in earshot and eyesight of the president is what's being debated right now."
David also questioned whether Pennsylvania law would permit him to give money to someone for committing an illegal act.
Magner said the decision would ultimately come down to "how close he was able to get."
"One million dollars is a lot of mo and I think it's one of those things -- there were stipulations involved and he wanted to make sure they were met," the spokesman said.
