Arizona State mascot's prank leads to $76k settlement with Tempe councilman

A halftime prank by the Arizona State mascot known as Sparky, will cost the state over $76,000 dollars in settlement fees with a Tempe councilman.

The mascot jumped on the back of councilman David Schapira during halftime of the Sun Devils Sept. 18 game, as various city officials were waiting to go on the field at halftime. After posing for pictures with Sparky, the mascot decided to jump on the 6-foot-5 councilman's back.

Unfortunately for all involved, Schapira was recovering from back surgery just two months prior, and immediately felt pain.

"I felt a pop in my lower back," Schapira wrote in his claim obtained by Anne Ryman of The Republic. "I tried to push Sparky off as my wife and others yelled to him to get off, but I needed the assistance of another council member to get him off my back."

The councilman took to Twitter following the incident to post a timeline of the event.

As a result of the injury, Schapira missed work in his job as assistant superintendent at East Valley Institute of Technology, as well as his duties on council. Luckily he was able to maintain a sense of humor about the whole thing, taking a shot at the Sun Devils rival Arizona school.

"The only upside to the situation was that it was Sparky who jumped on me," Schapira said. "If it has been Wilbur the Wildcat (University of Arizona mascot), I'd probably be pretty angry."