A heavily-tattooed fugitive who boasts he’s the ‘world’s most modified youth’ has openly taunted Australian police on social media after a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Ethan Bramble, 23, is wanted over assault-related offences, but has gone on the run, leaving a trail of provocative messages for authorities.
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"Nananana you’ll never catch me" he posted this week on Facebook.
He also live-streamed a video on Instagram saying he wasn’t sure if he should turn himself in.
"I smoke too much, I drink too much, I don’t want to go to jail," he told the audience of almost 200 people before closing down the broadcast on Wednesday. "Hopefully I don’t get life in prison, later crew.”
He even commented on his own arrest warrant notice on the Victorian Police Facebook page. “I’ve never once seen him in my life,” he wrote on the post bearing his mugshot.
View this post on InstagramCoffee with the homie is always better than jail 🥀☕️ #DoYouFolksLikeCoffee #FromTheHillsOfColombia #tattoos #freeman #getoffme #therealones
Bramble later told his legions of online fans that the arrest warrant was due to a misunderstanding over an alleged altercation with an ex-girlfriend at a bar.
Investigators are disputing his claim that he had "sorted out" the mix-up with detectives and was now a "free man”.
Victoria Police confirmed on Friday that the warrant was still active. The force said in a statement they were looking for a man “described as caucasian, with a thin build.”
Bramble, though, is hard to miss. Almost every inch of his body – about 98 per cent – is covered in tattoos, including his eyeballs and all over his face. Along with his ink, he also has a split tongue, numerous implants and piercings. He has previously said some of the procedures left him “near-death.”
Earlier this month, the internet star appeared on commercial television to discuss his extreme body modification, including a silicon spider embedded under the skin in his hand.
View this post on InstagramHuge props to @channel10au for having me on today. It’s always a pleasure to be interviewed by such a respectful and warm bunch. Moments like these where I’m given an opportunity to break the stigma of how society takes us at face value really is a blessing. Thanks again @whatsarahsnapped for setting it all up and getting me on! And another thanks to the whole panel and crew!
“I have always enjoyed how it looks. Growing up I was interested in Aztec design like nose poles and then as I got older I realised, wow, you can get more intense stuff done,” he told Australian talk show Studio 10. “You can get all kinds of weird and wacky stuff done.”
Not everyone is impressed. The New South Wales Health Minister Brad Hazzard called the body modification industry “the worst barbarism imaginable”.
Academics at the University of Göttingen in Germany found there were 10 general psychological reasons for people modifying their bodies, including expressing spiritual enlightenment, rebellion or their sexuality.
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