i'm contessa brewer. welcome to "caught on camera." a day at the beach, a night out to see your favorite band, a hike in a beautiful state park. sometimes even the most enjoyable activities can suddenly take a turn for the worse. and when they do, who will come to the rescue? for one utah motorcyclist trapped beneath a burning car, the answer is not necessarily who you'd expect. a motorcyclist is trapped underneath a burning car as bystanders rush to try and save him. >> oh, my gosh! >> i did see the flame, and i did think the car had potential to blow up. >> logan, utah, is a quiet college town home to utah state university. but right outside campus on september 12th, 2011, a car and a motorcycle collide, and the bike bursts into flames. the unfolding scene is captured from the ninth floor of a nearby building by university videographer, chris garth. >> i was setting up for a video lecture. i noticed smoke outside the window. that's when i started videotaping. >> flames are spreading to the front end of

i'm contessa brewer. >>> criminals are everywhere but so are cameras watching their every move. >> pulled the mask off his face. >> recording antics that will stun you. >> there were four guys in here. >> catching crimes that range from cold-blooded -- >> it was very brutal. >> to ridiculous. >> the subject was described as being dressed like a tree. >> they had garbage bags on their heads. they had these eyeholes torn out. in this hour, "caught an camera: thieves and thugs." >>> when a thief wearing a mask and wielding a butcher knife threatens to kill you, it is terrifying. but when a thief unexpectedly traps himself in the very place he planned to burglarize, that could be entertaining. i'm contessa brewer. welcome to "caught on camera." surveillance cameras are everywhere. in this hour, we'll show you criminals they've captured in the act. some of what you see may leave you stunned, like the tough grandmother you're about to meet who fends off a violent attacker in a hotel lobby. this hotel clerk knew

i'm contessa brewer. welcome to "caught on camera." it's human nature to get angry, and sometimes emotions boil over. when they do, situations can spiral out of control. in this hour, you'll see people who lash out in frustration, despair and rage. >> oh, hell, yeah. [ laughter ] >> it's a scene that would shock any parent. two middle school girls beating each other in front of dozens of their peers. and the whole bloody battle is caught on an iphone camera. >> we want to see more of this. >> one of the girls involved is 13-year-old sierra spencer. she has just switched middle schools in the small suburb of marysville, washington, after being bullied in her old school. at first, it feels like a good fit. >> it was perfectly fine. like i had no problems. i loved it. >> but sierra is bullied in this school, too. sierra's mother, kenice watson is frustrated the problems she thought she had fixed is continuing. >> there's three middle school, and how do they intermingle? and so eventually the issues she was h

i'm contessa brewer. welcome to "caught on camera." from politicians to police, sports stars to security guards, seems almost everybody gets out of line sometimes. and in a world full of cameras, those moments can live forever. in the case of our first story, some poor judgment, even becomes an international incident. a good-will basketball game takes an angry turn. when players stop passing basketballs and start hurling chairs. >> quickly you realize this was not your typical sports altercation. >> it's an international basket brawl and the entire scene is caught on camera by fans in the bleaches. >> i was fearing for my physical well being. >> the georgetown hoyas arrive in beijing for an exhibition tour. an entourage of more than 200 fans and school officials accompany the team on the trip. >> they wanted this to be a good will tour to expand georgetown's brand and bride. >> but the hoyas are not the only high-profile americans in china. >> vice president joe biden was in town at the same time. there's

i'm contessa brewer. welcome to "caught on camera." we all fear it, that one deadly moment of inattention, the simple but potentially fatal miscalculation, the sudden bolt from the blue we are helpless to avoid. in an instant, everything changes. but in the stories you will see this hour, situations that look like certain death end with a miraculous escape, or amazing rescue. in our first story, a rock climber nervously begins his first 300 foot rappel while his friend videotapes the achievement. then something goes horribly wrong. in a utah canyon, a man rappels down a towering cliff but loses control and falls 100 feet to the bottom. >> i thought for sure that my life was coming to an end. >> hey, you okay? >> in the summer of 2009, eric shrever and david cardona are hiking through utah's zion national park. they're both experienced canyoneers, skilled at getting through canyons by any means possible. that includes climbing, rappeling or even swimming. >> i've always loved the outdoors. i've been an avi

. >> hello, i'm contessa brewer. it can happen in a flash and with devastating impact, electrical shock. when we control it, electricity powers our lives. but when it's unleashed, high voltage can be terrifying. february 3, 1996, a desperate man attempts a perilous high-wire act, straight into 16,000 volts of electricity. >> i thought he blew up in a million pieces because there was such a shock and a sound, it was boom! i was, whoa. east los angeles, a vibrant hub of the city. for firefighter eric huck, one call from dispatch would be like any other. >> everybody was shocked. myself and many guys who had many years on the job, this was something you'd never seen before. >> eric and his team arrive on the scene it find a suicidal young man perched atop a power pole, 30 feet up. the rescuers immediately recognize the danger. >> we are dealing with high tension wires. we are talking about, death. within seconds. >> it's not just the suicidal young man whose life is at risk. a crowd has begun to form beneath him and if

i'm contessa brewer. these types of incidents can be scary enough to make you feel like your heart is skipping a beat. our first video is a heart stopping moment when a young girl goes into cardiac failure at a texas middle school and it's all caught on camera. it's a normal school day until a 12-year-old girl's heart suddenly stops beating. >> first thing i thought, scary. very scary. because i didn't know what i was looking at. >> september 26th, 2011, frisco, texas. kylie shea is walking the hallways with her friends when she suddenly has trouble breathing. attempting to sit down, she collapses and it's all caught on a time lapse security camera. kylie's friends run for help and the first person they see is phys ed coach and she has no idea what a dramatic turn her day is about to take. >> just a normal day. we just got through with p.e. and two girls came running in and said kylie is having a seizure come quick. i just took off as quick as i could. as soon as i got to her i could tell it wasn't a seiz

hello, i'm contessa brewer. welcome to "caught on camera." with security cameras, cell phone cameras and surveillance cameras working 24/7, it seems like every experience these days is captured by someone, somewhere. in this hour, we'll show you situations that are a little unusual. off the beaten path, or as we like to call them, bold, brazen and bizarre. you may ask yourself more than once in the next hour, what were they thinking? if you do, don't worry. we thought the same thing. two teenage girls go at each other in an after-school brawl. while dozens of classmates stand by, cheering. recording it all on their cell phones. at first, i had to ask, is this real? it they stage it? >> but this school fight is real. in the end, a strange twist. a mother would be arrested and charged with third-degree child abuse for egging on her daughter and not stopping the vicious fight. >> we were appalled. it becomes that much more shocking to see a parent of one of the children involved in this, right there. >> less than an hour south of tampa is palmet

i'm contessa brewer. welcome to "caught on camera." dangerous materials are used every day, usually without incident, because safeguards are in place to minimize risks. but natural disasters and man-made accidents happen all too frequently, and when highly flammable materials are involved, an emergency situation can become a fireball. may 15th, 2009. firefighters in texas are battling a blaze at a tank facility that stores oil, gas and sea water. just when they think they have the fire under control, a flare erupts from the tank on the right. it's not a good sign. and in a matter of seconds, the tank launches into the air like a rocket. >> everything went bright. the heat was real intense. >> a ball of fire races toward firefighters who are forced to run for their lives. >> you just think this could be the day for all of us. it was a violent, violent explosion. >> seconds later, another tank explodes. >> when the second tank exploded, and that's when the debris was flying everywhere and about a ten-foot p

i'm contessa brewer. welcome to "caught on camera." breaking the law is one thing. fighting the law is another. in this hour, you'll meet people who challenged authorities. some used guns. some used fists. one even used an 18-wheeler. but no matter the method, they all have one thing in common. somebody was there to capture it on camera. >> a desperate man takes on federal agents in a dramatic four-day standoff. >> i'm a cowboy. i'm coming out like a cowboy. >> before going down in a hail of gunfire. september 2004. bowling green, kentucky. a barn burns to the ground and four horses die. an investigation by the bureau of alcohol, tobacco & firearms or atf points to arson. the main suspect, russell sublet, a 41-year-old ex-con who tends horses in the area. during the investigation special agent david hayes learns sublet may also own a sawed off shotgun, another possible charge against him. >> i made contact with russell sublet. he agreed to meet with us. >> on the afternoon of september 29th, sublet is at

i'm contessa brewer. welcome to "caught on camera." when it comes to sky diving, you may want excitement, but you don't want surprises. certainly not at thousands of feet in the air. but surprise is what one instructor gets. not once, not twice, three times in one day. all while heading straight for the ground below. [ screaming ] >> it was really not my day. i should have stayed in bed that day. >> oh, my gosh. >> adrian "wildman" thuma is a sky drive instructor who takes people on jumps in australia. on january 12th, 2007, he's getting ready to head up again and joking from behind the camera with his next passenger scott. >> ready to go? >> i'm set. >> did you see my last one? >> no. >> good. >> good because it hadn't been perfect. that was when thuma got the first surprise of the day. his main parachute developed a tension knot in the lines. >> so the lines have slack in some stage. so they went through themselves and created a knot like this. >> you're always prepared for your main parachute to go wro

i'm contessa brewer. welcome to "caught on camera." water is a force to be reckoned with. we learn as children never to turn our backs on a wave. but there are countless other ways to be caught unprepared. in our first story, a burst water main wreaks havoc on a cold winter morning. motorists trapped in their vehicles when a flood turns roadways into rivers. >> could have killed many people. >> the waters rise so quickly that drivers are unable to escape. among those stranded in the fast moving current are a mother with her 9-year-old son. >> i can't see anything! i need help! >> ma'am, we're on our way. >> december 23rd, 2008. an aging water main ruptures in bethesda, maryland, sending a massive wall of water down a busy road and turning the commute into a nightmare for drivers. firefighters at station 10 are just pulling out. unaware a critical situation nearby. they immediately get stuck in traffic backed up from the flood. >> we actually thought we might have had a trash truck or something on fire. th

i'm contessa brewer. when you buy a ticket to a sports event or a comedy show, you expect a couple hours of entertainment, a chance to sit back, relax and enjoy. but the spectators you'll meet in this hour got much more than they bargained for. they thought they were watching for their own amusement. instead, they were watching at their own risk. >> everybody look out! >> fans run in fear as monster waves take down everything and everyone. >> damn it, look at these people! >> there was no control. you didn't know which way was up and you didn't know what was going to happen next. >> it's february 13th, 2010 and it's the maverick surf competition known as the super bowl of big wave surfing, for good reason. >> the condor looking solid. >> the competition is held only when conditions are just right, to create the most incredible waves on earth. some as high as 50 feet. and only the best surfers are allowed to ride these giants. >> the mavericks event itself attracts 24 of the biggest names in big wave surfi

i'm contessa brewer. every day we go about our daily routines never thinking that at any moment we could suddenly find ourselves in harm's way. not much feels as ordinary as a trip to the convenience store, sightseeing in the park, or even filling up your gas tank. but as one ohio man discovered, trouble could be lurking just around the corner. a carpenter filling up his gas tank suddenly finds himself pinned to the ground, surrounded by flames. >> it was the lunch hour. so i'm more so on the cashier's desk, and that time is pretty busy. >> laura works at the sunmart gas station in munson township, ohio, and loves her job. >> we're smiling at 6:00 a.m. and smiling at 9:00 p.m. when it's time to close down. so we have a lot of regular customers. >> one of those regular customers is jim, a building maintenance supervisor. >> i come to this gas station every day for lunch during the workweek. >> october 9, 2009, is as routine as any other day. laura behind the counter. jim enjoying his lunch. >> it was towar

i'm contessa brewer. welcome to "caught on camera." we all had bad days at work, stressful deadlines, demanding bosses, boring paperwork. but for the people we'll meet in this hour the daily grind becomes a once in a lifetime nightmare. earthquakes, runaway cars and armed robbers turn 9:00 to 5:00 into run for your life! and while you might think your co-workers are grumpy, it could be worse. at least you don't work with an angry elephant. i hope. a zookeeper crosses paths with a 10,000-pound rampaging elephant. and finds himself fighting for his life. it's january 31st, 1989, at san diego wild animal park. and young keeper david salmarcus is preparing to clean up the elephant enclosure. for david, then 20 years old, working with elephants is a dream job. >> it was a really good feeling when you would come in to the barn in the morning to greet the elephants, and they greeted you back. it made you feel great. you can call them by name and they would walk over to you and rub against you. and they were so g

i'm contessa brewer. throughout history humans have looked for ways to soar, if only for a little while. flying, floating and even free falling, as you will see, a lot can go wrong high up in the air. some of the stories are about dreamers who find new ways to conquer new heights and others are about daredevils who relish that trip down. but our first story is about a man at a low point in his life and the effort high above a city street to save him. 70 stories above the streets of new york, a desperate man contemplates ending his life by jumping from the top of one of the city's landmark skyscrapers. >> obviously something has brought him to the edge, and we want to figure out quickly as possible, but the job could always go very wrong. >> august 10, 2011. detectives james cole and sean solar of the new york city police department's emergency services unit are on duty when the call comes in. >> we started our shift at 3:15 that afternoon. and almost immediately as soon as we finished loading up and check

i'm contessa brewer. welcome to "caught on camera." hundreds of thousands of videos hit the web every day. but only a select few really grab the public's attention and go viral. if you watch like me, sometimes these videos seem a bit suspicious. in this hour, we'll watch some of the web's most popular videos and uncover if they're works of fact or fiction. >> hey. sheri here, obviously. >> in august 2010, a mysterious video purporting to be a piece of courtroom evidence starts to circulate across the web. it's dubbed exhibit b-5. >> it has an element of where did this come from that you're really curious about. >> i am recording this so you can share in this amazing step-by-step process of my brilliant practical joke. >> the video is about an attractive young lady who is setting up a friend of hers to be pranked. >> you need to water this. you making a movie? >> she gets ready with one of her friends who dresses up like some kind of criminal intruder. >> this is a classic surprise prank. >> okay, that's h

i'm contessa brewer. have you ever witnessed a crime, a scary accident, or someone in serious peril? all of the people in our next hour did and though they could have shied away from danger, each of these ordinary citizens chose the opposite, to step in and help out. a fire rages through an apartment and trapped inside the inferno is a terrified 4-year-old boy. cory owns a variety store on the first floor of the building. after hearing someone scream, a little boy is in the building, he grabs a ladder from his store, climbs the fire escape, and is first on the scene trying to rescue the child. >> i was trying to make my way inside. i couldn't. the smoke was way too much. >> stuck outside the window, he can't reach the child and with smoke enveloping them he knows the boy desperately needs oxygen. >> i told him, just breathe. breathe outside and make sure you keep breathing. >> things aren't looking good. but to his relief, firefighters soon arrive on the scene. >> i see a ladder setting in place and bring

i'm contessa brewer. welcome to "caught on camera." a crash can happen just about anywhere. sometimes the impact is no more than a minor inconvenience. other times it is a life-changing or even a life-ending event. while crashes are often accidents, in our first video, you'll see a one-man wrecking effort that is anything but accidental. june 4th, 2004, an irate man in a bulldozer wreaks havoc on the small town of grandby, colorado. >> the vehicle was going in and out of this, basically, a big concrete warehouse, that was made out of prefast concrete. and what he would do is pull forward until the wall would collapse on top of him an then he would pull backwards and he was just going from one end of the build to the other doing that, causing the building to collapse on itself. >> glen trainor is the former undersheriff of grand county, colorado. when the call first comes in that a bulldozer is on the loose, he isn't overly concerned. but that changes after a report of shots being fired. it turns out, this

i'm contessa brewer. welcome to "caught on camera." you see a crime unfolding before your very eyes. the law breakers are armed, so what do you do? run for help? call 911? or would you try to stop the bad guys yourself? it's one thing to get involved if you're young and able. but in the story you are about to see, one of the unlikeliest of people says, not on my watch. northampton, england. it's a bold and brash robbery in broad daylight as three sledgehammer-wielding thugs wail away at this jewelry store front. and three getaway drivers on mopeds rev their engines. it appears no one can stop these helmeted hooligans from their brazen afternoon heist. that is no one except for super granny. >> i'm exceedingly feisty. i know how to smack your hand if it's in the wrong place. >> her name is ann timson. and cloaked in red, flying down the street with the greatest of ease, the 71-year-old british granny vigilante decides to take justice into her own hands. beating the armed bandits with the only weapon she ha

i'm contessa brewer. welcome to "caught on camera." it's human nature to get angry, and sometimes emotions boil over. when they do, situations can spiral out of control. in this hour, you'll see people who lash out in frustration, despair and rage. >> oh, hell, yeah. [ laughter ] >> it's a scene that would shock any parent. two middle school girls beating each other in front of dozens of their peers. and the whole bloody battle is caught on an iphone camera. >> we want to see more of this. >> one of the girls involved is 13-year-old sierra spencer. she has just switched middle schools in the small suburb of marysville, washington, after being bullied in her old school. at first, it feels like a good fit. >> it was perfectly fine. like i had no problems. i loved it. >> but sierra is bullied in this school, too. sierra's mother, kenice watson is frustrated the problems she thought she had fixed is continuing. >> there's three middle schools. and how do they intermingle? and so eventually the issues she was

i'm contessa brewer.come to "caught on camera." according to youtube, more than 24 hours of video are uploaded to the site every minute, and that's just one of the many websites where you can view videos these days. that's a lot of funny, cute, or disturbing moments you can pass along to friends. but how do we know if we can believe what we're seeing? the clips you are about to watch have all had people wondering, are they real or are they fake? imagine your wedding day has finally arrived. after months, if not years, of planning. the sun's shining. your dream dress is perfectly steamed. your hair and makeup are flawless. you're staring into the eyes of the man you love and then -- >> oh, my god, oh, my god. >> a wedding disaster. >> there's always that fear that one little thing will just ruin everything. that's what happens in this video. one little tumble turns it from perfect to a calamity. >> it just, like, has an awesome shock value. >> if this was my wedding, my whole family would be like, that guy

i'm contessa brewer. welcome to "caught on camera." when dealing with dangerous people out on patrol or inside prison walls, members of law enforcement know never to let down their guard because the minute that happens, something terrible could unfold. one ohio officer learned that lesson the hard way. a late-night arrest leads to sudden violence. >> this was a person whose intent was clearly to hurt someone. >> this came out of the blue. he did not see it coming. >> and a fight for his life. >> you don't know how it's going to end. >> may 15th, 2011. elyria, ohio, 3:00 a.m. in a small town 30 miles west of cleveland. police are called to the house of 29-year-old anthony thomas whose girlfriend calls 911 after a fight. officer william whit arrests thomas when he realizes he has an outstanding warrant for contempt of court. thomas doesn't resist, and the drive back to the station is uneventful, except for one brief exchange. >> at some point in that time frame, mr. thomas made the comment, i can smell the

i'm contessa brewer.at's all for this edition of caught on camera. . >> caught on camera, terror at sea. cruise ships run aground. >> it was a scene out of the titanic movie. >> vacationers fight for their lives. >> they are rocking the boat. please don't rock this. >> a barge mows down a boat full of sightseers. a tourist is blasted by a rogue wave. and a day-trip turns disastrous. these unsuspecting victims all struggle to keep

i'm contessa brewer.d thrillseekers don't just put their own skills to the test, they challenge the laws of nature, too. in our next story, a kite border -- border stakes his life on the fickle wind, and it lets him down, hard. slug a pro kite boarder soars into the air and slams into solid steel. >> oh! >> oh, oh! >> i just saw my life flash in front of me. i started kite boarding 11 years ago when it first started. >> dimitri lives to fly. for wings, he uses a kite in a relatively new sport called kite boarding. >> the appeal about this sport is the freedom. it's just like jumping and pure powerhouse, but you are using nature to do that. >> the greek-born dimitri also flies to live. he's a pro and owner of a company that manufacturers and sells kite boards. >> i was very lucky to get into kite boarding. i did it for myself and got sponsored by two different companies and finally started my own kite company. >> kite boarding combines the appeal of boarding, riding the waves, with the pleasures of flying

i'm contessa brewer. welcome to an msnbc event. when we first launched this series we knew the explosion and personal video cameras would mean a big jump in compelling stories that are caught on camera but little did we know how quickly we would reach our 100th episode. that's right, 100 shows filled with stunning video and the stories behind those pictures. so as we reach this milestone, we decided to bring you this special look at the most memorable, most incredible stories we've found. buckle up and hold on. this is going to be one heck of a ride. starting with some extremely close calls. >> when lives are on the line -- a matter of seconds, inches and a little luck can be the difference between tragedy and triumph. in five close calls that will make your heart race. >>> a woman on the virge of drowning gets help from above. august 20th 2003 in las vegas, nevada, a woman is driving when she meets a flash flood head on. >> the water is so powerful she's got no control of where her vehicle is going. it's

." >>> welcome back to "caught on camera" i'm contessa brewer.ung man who infuriates a series of driving instructs and gets behind the wheel of his call and takes call after call on his cell phone but is it real or sit fake? let's watch and find out. >> driving is very easy. just relax and drive, okay? >> this viral video hit the internet in 2008. >> watch for the pedestrian in front of you. >> okay just how frustrated can a driving instructor get? we're about to see. [ cell phone ringing ] >> hello. >> no, no talking on the telephone. >> what's up? >> hang up the phone. >> hey, just stop snapping. >> grandma! yeah, it's me. >> 10 and 2 with the hands. >> he's clapping -- >> no, no, no. >> oh, my god. >> hang up the god [ bleep ] phone. >> it seemed a genuine reaction of the instructors that struck a cord with everybody. you're watching this going, i can't believe this kid had the [ bleep ] to do this and i can't believe he pulled it off and i can't believe these people didn't slap him silly. >> but the ever-cynical online viewing audience had th

i'm contessa brewer. >>> criminals are everywhere but so are cameras watching their every move. >> pulledthat will stun you. >> there were four guys in here. >> catching crimes that range from cold-blooded -- >> it was very brutal. >> to ridiculous. >> the subject was described as being dressed like a tree. >> they had garbage bags on their heads. they had these eyeholes torn