‘Not a harmless prank’: St. Johns County deputies give stern warning, arrest 3 teens involved in door-kicking challenge

ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – The St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office has administered a stern warning following the arrest of three teenagers who were participating in a “door-kick challenge” that has been circulating on social media.

The challenge involves a teen running up to the door of a home and aggressively kicking it multiple times before running away, similar to the prank known as “ding-dong-ditch,” where someone rings a doorbell and runs away before the home’s occupant can open the door.

In a video posted to social media by SJSO, viewers can see one of the two teens who was arrested kicking someone’s door repeatedly as the home’s occupant calls 911 to report someone “trying to kick in our front door.”

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Robert Corlett said his home was one of the ones that was targeted by the teens. He tells News4JAX that he and his wife were watching television when they heard loud bangs on their front door.

“Three or four giant bangs on the front door like someone was coming through,” Corlett said. “I could faintly hear him say, the door wouldn’t open. He was yelling to someone else, so we were communicating all that in real time with the 911 operator,” Corlett said.

It is later revealed in the video by Corlett’s wife, who called 911, that her husband was going to “open the door with [a] gun” in order to assess the potential threat.

She added that her husband “has his weapon in his hand” in case the threat returns.

“They were trying to get in. They were trying to knock the door down and get into my house,” he added.

Later in the video, deputies locate the teens, ages 13 and 14, hiding behind an electrical box near homes on Sweetbrier Branch Lane, adding that the teens were dressed in dark clothing and gloves.

Upon finding them, deputies placed them in the back of a police vehicle and began informing them of the severity of their actions.

One of the deputies can be heard asking the teens, “Who wants to catch a felony today?” He also reminds them that if their actions led to them getting shot, the homeowners would be justified in doing so.

SJSO also said the video should serve as a warning to anyone attempting to participate in the prank.

“This ‘challenge’ is not a harmless prank. As you heard in the audio, the complainants were armed, waiting at the front door to shoot the possible intruder,“ the agency said. ”Participating in this criminal act has serious and possibly life-changing consequences.

Similar challenges like this have led to teens being shot before in Northeast Florida.

In February, a high school football player was shot in the arm by an agent with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement while playing “Senior Assassin,“ a game that involves groups using water guns to “shoot each other” until the last man or team is left standing.

And later in the month, in Fernandina Beach, the police department asked for the community’s help in identifying someone who was caught on a Ring camera attempting to kick the door of a home before running away.

The video prompted Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters to remind kids of the consequences that could follow something like that.

“If you kick in someone’s door, you are likely to get shot and killed,” he said. “That’s just the facts. So don’t. Second, if we find out that you are doing it, we are going to come and arrest you.”

The teens in the video posted by SJSO were arrested for loitering and prowling, with one also being charged with criminal mischief.