LEMON GROVE, Calif. (KGTV) - A Lemon Grove family is dealing with more than $2,000 in repairs after teenagers kicked in their front door during a late-night prank while two children slept inside.
The incident, captured on doorbell camera footage, shows the escalation of ding-dong-ditch pranks that have been spreading across San Diego County since 2023, fueled by TikTok challenges.
Two Sundays ago, just before 11 p.m., Amber Lewis was watching television in a back room of her Angelus Avenue home while her children, ages 9 and 3, were sleeping in their bedrooms. A car pulled up outside, and two teenagers got out.
"I was watching TV, and then the doors rattled pretty hard, and so I heard kind of a boom noise and felt a jolt," Lewis said.
Lewis discovered her front door kicked in with the frame heavily damaged.
"My heart dropped because. Was someone in the house?" Lewis said.
She and her husband searched and didn’t find anyone in the else. Their kids had slept through it. They checked their doorbell camera footage.
The doorbell camera video shows one teenager recording on his phone while another walks up to the front door and kicks it in, sending wood flying. The two then get back into the car, which speeds away.
"I'm in total shock," Lewis said while reviewing the footage.
"It's just scary to know kids are doing this," Lewis said.
I have been covering escalating local ding-dong-ditch pranks tied to TikTok challenges since 2023. The pranks have evolved from simple door kicking to e-bikes ramming doors. In 2024, someone set off a fireworks display in Coronado before an accomplice rang the doorbell.
In August of this year, the prank turned deadly in Texas when police say an 11-year-old boy was shot and killed by a homeowner.
"You don't know who's sitting on the couch and what they may be prepared with, and so these challenges are just crazy," Lewis said.
The incident has left Lewis with rattled nerves and a repair bill exceeding $2,000. She filed a report with the Sheriff's Office.
"My hope is they are held accountable, and I hope that this is a learning lesson for them," Lewis said. "I get the kids want to have fun, but they don't recognize the seriousness of it."
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