Police in Pennsylvania are warning against a “dangerous” TikTok challenge involving kicking doors.
The Lower Swatara Township Police Department in Dauphin County detailed an incident of “disorderly” juveniles running through a neighborhood on Sunday between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. Police obtained video from the incident, where a juvenile is seen kicking the front door of a home and running away. Two other juveniles can be seen running away in the background of the video.
Officers arrived at the home, talked to the homeowner and reviewed the video. They said the incident is most likely “related to a current TikTok trend.” Police said in the news release that officers walked through the neighborhood and spoke with several other residents who reported the same thing.
According to police, no one called when the incident occurred. The department encourages anyone to call 911 if something like this happens at your home. Anyone with information regarding the incident from Sunday can contact Lower Swatara police at 717-558-6900.
Explaining the “door kick challenge”
The trend known as the “door kick challenge” is when someone kicks the front door of a home and runs off. In most cases, the person records the so-called prank on their cell phone, and sometimes the video gets posted to social media.
The challenge is similar to the “ding-dong ditch” prank.
Police have alerted the public to late-night door-kicking in Maryland, Michigan, Colorado, California and Delaware. Two teens were charged after kicking a door over the summer in Maryland, and a man was charged in a deadly shooting in Texas while a boy played “ding-dong ditch.”