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Atlantic Beach Police investigated a similar series of videos in August.
FERNANDINA BEACH, Fla. — A recent social media challenge is taking “ding-dong ditching” to a new level.
Fernandina Beach Police shared video of a teenager jump kicking a homeowner’s door.
First Coast News decided to blur the suspect’s face because police believe he’s under age.
Atlantic Beach Police posted about something similar in the fall, calling it a social media challenge where kids run up and kick a door as hard as they can.
The homeowner in Fernandina Beach is hoping it’s a trend that will die out quickly before someone gets hurt.
“When I turned on the camera to view who was at my front door and saw that, I was absolutely shocked to my core,” Crystal Dombrosky said.
Dombrosky wasn’t expecting anyone while away from home on a business trip, so she was surprised when her phone notified her someone was at her door.
“Couldn’t breathe,” Dombrosky said. “Didn’t know what to do.”
She shared the video with Fernandina Beach Police, who took it to social media for help identifying the teen.
Dombrosky says her neighbor saw the video and told her she had a similar experience.
“Teens put a mask on at 11 o’clock at night and violently hit her front door,” Dombrosky said.
Atlantic Beach Police investigated some similar videos in August, calling it a “social media challenge” with some doors kicked so hard, dents were left behind.
“That could be viewed as a home invasion or attempted burglary,” First Coast News Crime and Safety Analyst Mark Baughman said. “Both of which are felonies by the way.”
Baughman said the most dangerous part of the challenge is not knowing how the person on the other side of the door will react.
“People are protecting their home, they have a gun, possibly or maybe a baseball bat or a weapon or whatever,” Baughman said. “They think someone is breaking into the house or whatever. This is worst case scenario I’m talking about, but it’s very possible something like that could happen.”
Dombrosky is hoping parents who see her video will talk to their teens about the risk this challenge poses.
“There’s avenues where people want to become famous or do things that seem cool to their friends,” Dombrosky said. “This is definitely not one of them.”
Fernandina Beach Police said they’re investigating it as vandalism, but couldn’t comment further because it’s an ongoing investigation at this point.