Ray William Johnson: True Story Podcast - This Youtuber Might Be Going To Prison - The Erik Conover story

Episode Date: March 29, 2025

Erik Van Conover, a prominent luxury real estate YouTuber and filmmaker based in New York City, has been charged with attempted murder following an alleged incident involving a law enforcement officer. Known for showcasing high-end properties and adventure content on his YouTube channel, Conover's arrest has shocked his substantial online following.

So this YouTuber is in big trouble. He allegedly tried to unalive a cop. Now the guy's name is Eric, and Eric's an influencer living in New York, and he's very popular on YouTube, almost 3 million followers. And he does videos where he like tours luxury homes, he does walkthroughs, and these aren't just like pretty nice houses. Some of these are like $500 million mansions. And so this is a really good gig for him,

because over time his channel has been growing, and he's been getting really successful. Here he is with his YouTube play button after hitting a million subscribers. In fact, he's been getting so popular that on his channel he does a workout video with Chris Hemsworth. Pretty cool.

Not to mention he's huge on TikTok 1.3 million followers and Instagram with almost a million followers. So clearly, Bro found a decent niche for himself and he's doing really well. Until One day, Eric screws it all up. Earlier this year,

He puts out a video on YouTube and in it he announces that he's been sober from alcohol for several years 1,444 days sober from alcohol today and you know good for him for getting his life together But then just a few months later he apparently falls off the wagon because he's driving his Jeep around town one day and police pull him over and they find that old Eric is anything but sober And one news source says he was drunk driving a Another news source says he was driving while high on Zaza, so it's likely one of those two things. Regardless, he was allegedly operating a vehicle while intoxicated on something, and so, bam, they arrest him. Now, this has nothing to do with him attacking a cop. This is just him falling off the wagon. We'll get to the thing about him attacking a cop.

Anyway, so soon after this, he gets out of jail on Bond. And he posts about his arrest like a thousand times on his Twitter. I guess he's upset about it. He claims that police put the cuffs on him too tight, and you can actually see in this picture here he posted, he's got a bruise on his wrist there. And he says he's suing the police for violating his constitutional rights. Okay, bro. But then, a few days later, he screws up again. And this time it's much worse. Because he's driving around New Hampshire for some reason, and he's speeding.

He's doing around 60 miles an hour and a 35. And suddenly, boom, he flies right by a police officer. And the cop's like, oh, hell no. And he pulls out behind Eric and boo, he turns on his lights. And a bystander actually got this footage of the cop following him. So this is actual footage. Now, most people in this situation would immediately pull over. Like, oh man, I got caught speeding, and then you pay your ticket and you move on with your life.

But that's not what Eric does. Instead, Eric's like, fuck the police! And he just keeps on driving. So this cop is like following him for a while. And finally, Eric's the guy's like, like, all right, and he pulls over. So then the police officer pulls up and he orders Eric to get out of the vehicle. Then I guess Eric changes his mind and he's like, fuck the police again. And he drives away again. So now the officer's got to get back in his car and chase him hoping he'll finally

give up and pull over. About eight miles later, Eric finally does pull over again. But he pulls over to the oncoming lane for some reason. So the officer pulls up behind him and he gets out of his car to approach Eric's Jeep. Then, allegedly, for some reason, we still don't know why, but Eric throws the Jeep in reverse and skir-floors it and pow hits the cop with his vehicle. And the officer flies like 20 to 40 feet before boom he lands on the ground. And skirk, Eric speeds away. And pretty quickly, the officer calls for backup. And now there are multiple cops chasing Eric trying to catch him. And this chase goes on for 28 miles. And eventually, Eventually, police throw down some of those spike strips and Eric runs over them and

pow, his tires blow out. And just like that, the chase is over because his Jeep is fucked. And you can actually see a picture of it here with all the tires flat. And so, bam, they arrest him. Here's his mugshot. A Bartlett police officers out of the hospital after getting hit during that chase with a popular YouTuber accused of trying to kill him. Oh, but the story gets even crazier because Eric gets charged with among other things, attempted murder of a police officer, which is a huge deal. And the police officer

survived, by the way. I think one of his legs ended up being injured, but other than that, he's, he's alive. Anyway, three days later, Eric has an arraignment hearing. And at this hearing, he's talking to the judge, and he allegedly starts telling the judge all kinds of crazy shit. He tells him that he's a popular YouTuber, that he's a public figure. He encourages the judge to look him up and look at his online following because he has millions of followers. Like, I'm not sure that's going to help his case. He apparently also tells the judge that this is all one big misunderstanding that he's Eric, but that the guy they're looking for

is apparently a different guy named Eric. While he's a popular YouTuber, the other Eric isn't, I guess. And he lives in New York while the real Eric they're looking for lives in another state. I don't know. Like, his excuses are weird and confusing, so forgive me if I'm getting any of them wrong. But at one point, he holds up documents and claims that they've been falsified. I have everything right here and it's all been falsified. Then he starts insinuating that the police are all out to get him and that this is all part of some sort of police sting operation.

Then he brings up his sobriety. I've been sober from alcohol for 1,558 days. So to press me on the view, I am a public figure. Then his parents show up to the hearing and he starts to break down a little. Mom, thank God. Look at me. Eric, Eric, they're here to help me. I mean, clearly, the whole thing is just a circus. Now, at this point, someone, I'm not sure if it was a judge or an attorney, they bring up his mental competency.

Because nothing he's saying is making any sense and his behavior's been erratic and he's acting a bit odd. And for some reason, bringing up his mental competency sets him off. If anyone dares try to test my mental confidence, I will eviscerate every single person with my intelligence right now. and that's not being egotistical. I will eviscerate every single person with my intelligence. Look at fucking Rick Sanchez over here. Now, why is Eric crashing out so hard? Like, why is he acting this way?

Well, all we have right now are theories. And on the internet, among his fandom, this is the leading theory. A while back on his Instagram, he was posting some things like this. So you can see in this picture he's got a pill in his mouth and a prescription bottle in his hand. with the caption, Yeah, the pharmaceutical industry tried to guess like me that I need medication too, when all you need is some discipline of your emotional state.

So, what is that bottle of meds in his hand? Well, the internet is saying that it's olanzapine. Now, I can't confirm that it's olanzapine, like I've zoomed in on the label, and you can compare it to an actual image of a bottle of olanzapine. Like, it looks similar to me, but I don't know. That's just what everyone on the internet is saying. Now, why that matters is olanzapine is an antipsychotic used to to treat the symptoms of schizophrenia.

And so the leading theory among his fandom is that he had been prescribed antipsychotics for symptoms of schizophrenia and that he's recently decided that he's going to stop taking them and go all natural because I guess he doesn't trust the big pharmaceutical companies. And that him quitting his meds caused him to fall off the wagon and act out in all kinds of ways, like running over a cop, for instance. But again, this is just a theory. Regardless, he hasn't been to trial yet, so all of these accusations are alleged. However, these are some very serious charges, so I think his days of being a YouTube star, it might be over.