Two teenagers were hit with felony charges after kicking a stranger’s front door in for a TikTok challenge.
Jeffery Merthie, 15, and Zahmarii Reddick, 13, were arrested in DeBary, near Orlando, on Sunday after they kicked a neighbor’s door in.
The challenge is similar to the old-fashioned prank of ding-dong-ditch, but instead of knocking, teens are kicking doors in videos which have gone viral on social media.
Merthie and Reddick were seen on doorbell footage sneaking up to the house, before slowly turning around with their backs to the door and kicking it several times before running off.
Bodycam footage later showed Merthie being placed in cuffs while he stood next to another teen, who was not identified. Both boys told Volusia Sheriff’s deputies that they were leaving Reddick’s house.
‘Where’s the girl?’ another officer asked.
‘We didn’t do nothing, I promise you,’ the unidentified teen told police.
‘I promise you you did,’ the officer, who was placing Merthie in cuffs, said. ‘Not you, but he did.
Jeffery Merthie, 15, and Zahmarii Reddick, 13, were arrested in DeBary, near Orlando, on Sunday after they kicked Reddick’s neighbor’s door in as part of the ‘door kicking challenge’ on TikTok
The door had large chunks of splintered wood and the lock and doorknob was entirely busted off.
Merthie tried to defend their actions, saying they just kicked the door, but the officer quickly pulled up photos of the broken door on his phone to show the teen
‘The camera is crystal clear [of] you running up on their front porch and you turn around and kick their front door in… The camera can not be no more clear.’
Merthie was picked up by police after they noticed his ‘distinctive’ shorts, which are multicolored.
When asked why they did it, Merthie told them they were ‘just being dumb.’
‘We weren’t responsible, we won’t do that no more,’ he said.
Merthie tried to defend their actions, saying they just kicked the door, but the officer quickly pulled up photos of the broken door on his phone to show the teen.
The door had large chunks of splintered wood and the lock and doorknob was entirely busted off.
‘That’s completely broken in,’ he said. ‘You know those people could have shot you?’
Reddick was taken into custody after her mother allowed officers inside the home to search for the girl.
When asked why they did it, Merthie told them they were ‘just being dumb’
Reddick was taken into custody after her mother allowed officers inside the home to search for the girl (pictured)
She was taken out in cuffs while her mother yelled at her: ‘Never come back to my house again! Let me tell you something, don’t ever play with me again!’
‘Let me tell you, mom was furious with her daughter after deputies told her what she had been up to,’ Sheriff Mike Chitwood wrote in a statement.
‘Parents, use this as a reminder to TALK with your kids that this challenge is not harmless and is the dumbest way to end up with a felony charge or dead.’
The two teens copped felony burglary charges. It is unclear if they will be charged as adults.
Older teens are typically tried for burglary as an adult, according to The Ansara Law Firm.
A juvenile burglary charge carries up to 36 months in prison or probation and fines.
A standard adult burglary charge carries up to five years in prison or probation and fines up to $5,000.
