From Annoyed To Threatening, North Bay Responds To TikTok Door-Kick Challenge

HEALDSBURG, CA — The viral TikTok kick-pound-and-run challenge, once again turning into a national frustration, has hit Healdsburg and other parts of the North Bay.

Viral TikTok videos show teens pounding and kicking on doors in the middle of the night before running away. The goal is to make anyone inside think someone outside is trying to break into their home.

For the teens, the door-kick challenge is a prank; for the people inside, the experience is frightening. For the police, it's an offense that has led to stand-offs. Most of those cases have happened in Florida, Texas, and the East Coast. But North Bay police are launching awareness campaigns explaining the door-kick challenge and its potential consequences to adults.

The Healdsburg Police Department said residents near Healdsburg High School and Healdsburg Junior High have reported being targeted by the TikTok door-kick dare.

Aside from property damage, the pranks had led to dangerous confrontations and criminal charges, Healdsburg police said on Facebook.

Online, residents have complained about teens pounding on their door and running away, leaving the adults trying to figure out whether the door-pounding was a prank and what to do about it.

"I just had a teenage male, dressed in white, run to my door, bang on it, ring the doorbell, and then run away. Has anyone else experienced anything similar? He was alone, so it didn't seem like a prank," a Windsor resident wrote on NextDoor.

The TikTok version appears to be a reboot of a familiar prank — "ding dong ditch," where kids would dare each other to knock and run. A social media version popped up in 2022. Kids would ring a neighbor’s doorbell and run off before anyone had time to answer.

The new version is not only on TikTok but is also more aggressive and dangerous.

The viral version happens at night and residents are calling police or threatening the would-be pranksters with tragic consequences.

Incidents have led to tense stand-offs with police and arrests.

In Houston, an 11-year-old acting out the ding-dong ditch version at night was fatally shot earlier this year.

On the Healdsburg Police Department Facebook page, comments suggested using Tasers, and a Rohnert Park resident wrote, "SMITH & WESSON PROTECT MY FROT DOOR. COME TRY IT YOU LIL MOTHER FCKRS."

Healdsburg police were not immediately available to comment on the scope of the problem or the responses. But they asked adults in their posts to talk to teens about the risks and consequences and to report incidents to 707-431-3377.