Fla. man badly hurt after botched stunt

A 19-year-old continues to recover after what police described as a botched attempt to jump over a moving car for a video showing his athletic prowess to potential football recruiters.

Police said Bladimir Barreto was conscious and bleeding as he was flown about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday to Holmes Regional Medical Center's trauma center in Melbourne.

"He's lucky that it wasn't worse than what it was," said Yvonne Martinez, spokeswoman for Palm Bay police.

"The motive was apparently to video something to show to college recruiters for football," Martinez said.

A graduate of West Melbourne Christian Academy, Barreto two years ago played for the now defunct Brevard Grizzlies, an amateur football team in the Florida Football Alliance.

"He wanted to play football and move on, he's just undersized. He's a small guy that was blessed with speed," said his former Grizzlies coach David Dye, who estimated Barreto to be about 5-foot-5.

Dye, of Palm Bay, now coaches the FFA Orlando Rage. He said Barreto played receiver. "He could run."

The graphic video was shot by Barreto's brother as Barreto stood in the middle of a road near Knecht Park. The video shows a shirtless Barreto racing headlong into an oncoming Honda Accord driven by another brother, 17.

The car can be seen in the video accelerating before it clips Barreto during his attempt to jump over it. Barreto spins several times in mid-air before hitting the ground.

Officer Andrew Pidgeon arrived at the scene minutes later. "One of the brothers went around to the house and got his mother. She was a wreck and was there holding her son," he said.

Pidgeon said charges are pending against the 17-year-old, adding that the teen did not have a valid license and could face reckless driving.

Dye said he remembered Barreto as a good kid who would do anything to help his family.