Days After Death Hoax Prank Unraveled, JayStation Charged With Assault

Toronto police arrested and charged YouTuber ImJayStation with assault and assault with a weapon on Wednesday. It is unclear if the charges relate to the death hoax prank or the allegations described in JayStation's viral confession video that launched the YouTuber to infamy this past January.

ImJayStation, the YouTuber alias of 29-year-old Jason Ethier, will appear in court on March 16th, 2020. Less than two weeks ago, he admitted that he had lied about the death of his girlfriend Alexia Marano, who he claimed was killed in a drunk-driving accident, in a bid to increase his YouTube success. He currently has more than 5.4 million subscribers on the platform.

On Monday, police issued a warrant for Ethier's arrest for abusing his girlfriend Alexia Marano. Police arrested Ethier and charged him on two counts of assault. Hours later, Ethier was released and posted on Instagram.

"Guys, I just got arrested," Etheir told followers in the video. "But I’m back home and back on the grind. That’s why I missed the upload. New video dropping tonight. I’m going harder than ever now. Love you guys.”

This was posted to Jaystation's IG last night pic.twitter.com/QNAurAXuCm

— 🚨Pescatore News Network #PNN "Join the Discord"🚨 (@JoshPescatore) February 4, 2020

In a tearful confession last week, Ethier told followers that he had tried to help Marano "succeed" by hatching a plan to fake her death to increase their YouTube celebrity. Ethier began producing videos, including "My Girlfriend Alexia Died… *Rest In Paradise*," "Saying Goodbye to My Girlfriend Alexia (Rest in Paradies)" and, finally, "Dead Girlfriend Ouija Board Challenge at 3AM!! (Gone Wrong)."

Last week, Ethier confessed to faking her death and claimed that Marano had accused him of assault, sending the police to his apartment with a warrant.

I am having a stroke. pic.twitter.com/kVvYyqVqEM

— j aubrey 🤠 (@jaubreyYT) January 26, 2020

While it is unclear whether the abuse allegations described in his video were connected to the official charges, at the time of the video's release, Toronto Police told Newsweek that "there is no Toronto Police warrant on file for a Jason Ethier." Ottawa Police could not comment over the phone but confirmed on Twitter that the police in the video were not wearing authentic Ottawa Police uniforms.

This is not an Ottawa Police uniform, the shoulder crest is round.

— Ottawa Police (@OttawaPolice) January 28, 2020

Ethier continues to release videos on the ImJayStation channel despite the legal trouble and near-unending confusion regarding the controversy. His latest, "WE BOUGHT A RED ROOM OFF THE DARK WEB AND IT WAS BAD!! (GONE WRONG)," garnered nearly 100,000 views in less than six hours.