Disrespectful criminal, mischievous hoon or a victim of circumstances? We'll let you decide after we tell you the story of Emin Faki, 20, who was filmed earlier this week going down the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art in a…1980s (pre-facelift) BMW 3-Series E30 Convertible.
The museum is not only famous for its vast collection of artwork, but also for the 72 steps before the entrance, which are collectively known as the "Rocky Steps" after Sylvester Stallone climbed them in the triple-Oscar-winning film Rocky and its sequels.
Local photographer HughE Dillon, who runs the website PhillyChitChat and lives nearby, captured the scene on video. He stated the following about the incident:
"I was driving down the BF Parkway home. Since I live across from the steps I know what looks normal there, two headlights didn't fit that bill. I got stuck at traffic light w/cars in front of me, so video starts as he's closer to the bottom."
Philadelphia police learned about the incident and according to a report from Philly , they questioned 20-year old Faki on Friday. The District Attorney's Office said it has already approved a felony charge of criminal mischief against the driver as the car caused around $8,000 in damage to the steps. However, police said that they will not be pressing charges just yet as they want to determine whether the car had any mechanical issues at the time causing the driver to go down the steps.
Dillon told the news daily he doesn't believe speculation that the car was parked on top and it started to roll down by itself with the driver jumping in to save it.
"At first I couldn' believe it," Dillon said. "I was a little nervous. I thought he was going to roll. He was so deliberate in every single step. And then he went down backwards. It’s difficult to do. When he got to the halfway point, he did a victory lap. There’s a big apron, probably 30 feet wide, and he drove up and back, up and back, four times. Then he had to do a K-turn at either end. When he got to the bottom, he did another victory lap, then drove off," he added.
First Video and Screenshot Credits: HughE Dillon
Update: We just discovered a second video shot from one of the people on the steps named Stefan Santacroce, in which we hear (but don't see) that the car rolled down on its own and that the driver jumped in to save it
