Is This Old School Prank Illegal In Montana?

You may have heard of this old thing before.

The old 'Flaming Bag Of Poop' gag.

Something I've always thought about but have never done. I would describe it for the people that have never heard of this, but I'll Billy Madison give us an example of the deed.

*WARNING* NSFW

Pretty hilarious, right?

Although not a victimless crime, the thought of pulling this prank seems pretty funny.

With that said, is it illegal to pull this prank on someones doorstep?

Get our free mobile app

While there's not a direct law on the books for flaming bags of excrement, there are a number of laws one could break in the process of being caught with a flaming bag of poo like trespassing, vandalism, arson, and disturbing the peace, and disorderly conduct.

Vandalism and arson fall under Criminal Mischief laws in Montana. Specifically, Montana code 45-6-101 Criminal Mischief.  They define criminal mischief in several ways.

45-6-101. Criminal mischief. (1) A person commits the offense of criminal mischief if the person knowingly or purposely:

-injures, damages, or destroys any property of another or public property without consent.

-without consent tampers with property of another or public property so as to endanger or interfere with persons or property or its use.

Breaking these laws depending on severity can yield hefty fines.

A person convicted of the offense of criminal mischief shall be fined not to exceed $1,500 or be imprisoned in the county jail for any term not to exceed 6 months, or both. If the offender commits the offense of criminal mischief and causes pecuniary loss in excess of $1,500, injures or kills a commonly domesticated hoofed animal, or causes a substantial interruption or impairment of public communication, transportation, supply of water, gas, or power, or other public services, the offender shall be fined an amount not to exceed $50,000 or be imprisoned in the state prison for a term not to exceed 10 years, or both.

Although, a lot of these stipulations would apply to the prank, if fire is involved, it can get out of control and lots of damage can potentially occur.

Might not be a good idea executing this prank now-a-days due to safety concerns with fire and bio-hazard.