The San Antonio Police Department is “looking into” Steve-O’s recent River Walk stunt, in which the “Jackass” star did a gainer backflip from the Commerce Street bridge at Rivercenter mall into the shallow waters below.

“We are looking into the incident to determine the appropriate course of action,” Sgt. Javier Salazar wrote in an email.

Jumping into or swimming in the San Antonio River can yield a $500 fine, according to city statutes. Steve-O has not been fined, and police are determining whether the TV star and stand-up comic is due for punishment beyond the $500, if any, police spokeswoman Sandy Gutierrez said.

On Friday, Steve-O, who has made lots of money doing many stupid stunts in his life, jumped off the Commerce Street bridge into the man-made portion of the San Antonio River where the River Walk bends north into the Rivercenter mall lagoon. On Facebook, he admitted he didn’t realize just how “Jackass”-ian his gainer flip was:

I did a good deed today by proving it’s not safe to jump off this bridge at the San Antonio River Walk. It’s shallow– I hit the bottom when I landed this gainer flip. #notagoodidea #yeahdude #steveo

On Sunday, he expanded on his thoughts:

I had no idea the water was only four feet deep when I jumped off this bridge this weekend, but I found out when I hit the bottom. #KENS5news #sanantonio #yeahdude #steveo

According to the Unified Development Code, jumping into the river downtown is prohibited.

(a) It shall be unlawful to swim in the San Antonio River within the corporate limits of the City of San Antonio. “Swim” as used herein shall include bathing, wading or any other water contact recreational activity.

(b) Violation of any of the provisions of this section shall be a misdemeanor offense and shall be punished by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars ($500.00).

Not all portions of the river along the River Walk are as shallow. Around the main north-south channel, it can get deeper, well past 3 or 4 feet. But definitely around the man-made area, the original River Walk extension that travels past the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce toward Rivercenter, it’s shallow.

I’m sure Steve-O wouldn’t have cared about the $500, but I wonder if he’d still attempted the stunt knowing a little bit more about the shallow parts of the River Walk.

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