Abduction and Shootings Over Repeated 'Ding-Dong Ditch'... The Dangerous Consequences of Doorbell Pranks

Police: Suspect Threatened Child with Stone While Detaining Him

Charged with Kidnapping and Serious Assault

Some Cases Have Escalated to Shootings and Fatalities

A man in his 50s was arrested by police in South Carolina, USA, for attacking children who repeatedly played the so-called "ding-dong ditch" prank, and for dragging one of them into his home.

On June 15, according to Yonhap News TV citing WCSC and ABC News 4, a recent abduction case in the United States was introduced. The incident occurred on June 1 in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. Chad Larson, age 50, a resident of the area, is accused of knocking down children in a residential neighborhood and dragging one of them into his house that afternoon. Larson has been indicted on charges of kidnapping, aggravated assault, and third-degree assault. At the time of reporting, he was being held without bail at the Charleston County Detention Center.

A man in his 50s was arrested by police in South Carolina, USA, for attacking children who repeatedly played a so-called "belt throwing" prank and for dragging one of them into his home. The photo is unrelated to the specific content of the article. Pixabay

According to the police report, Larson stated that for about two weeks, children had repeatedly pressed his doorbell and run away. He also said that he drove around the neighborhood in his car to look for the children. On the day of the incident, Larson claimed that he went outside thinking the children had come to apologize, but after mocking him, the children rode away on their bicycles.

Investigations revealed that after this, Larson hid behind bushes at a neighbor's house, waiting for the children to pass by again. Police stated that when the children came near, Larson knocked them off their bicycles and held two of them on the ground. One managed to escape, but the other was grabbed by the neck and arm and dragged into Larson's house.

At the time, Larson was holding a stone while restraining the child, and the police report notes that he told the child something to the effect of, "I should hit you with this stone." Arriving officers saw Larson holding the child through a closed glass door. The doorknob was broken, so an officer had to retrieve a replacement and open the door before subduing Larson. Local media reported that while Larson admitted his actions were wrong during the police investigation, he continued to claim that the children were at fault first. Police called emergency medical personnel for the child victim, but the extent of the injuries was not publicly disclosed.

The investigative authorities warned that the danger significantly increases when the prank of ringing the doorbell goes beyond simply pressing the bell to forcefully knocking on the door or kicking it, known as the "Door Kick Challenge." The photo is unrelated to the specific content of the article. Pixabay

The problem is that such doorbell pranks are repeatedly resulting in serious incidents rather than ending as mere mischief across the United States. In America, the so-called "ding-dong ditch" prank—or filming such pranks and posting them as social media challenges—has led to shootings, deaths, and indictments on serious criminal charges.

In August last year in Houston, Texas, an 11-year-old boy named Julian Guzman was shot and killed while playing a doorbell prank. Police said the boy was filming himself pressing the doorbell and running away on his cellphone when the suspect chased the children and fired a gun. The suspect, Gonzalo Leon Jr., was indicted for murder, and local media reported that a grand jury later charged him with capital murder, which carries the possibility of the death penalty.

In 2020, a doorbell prank also ended in tragedy in California. After six teenage boys rang the doorbell of a home as a prank and drove away, the homeowner, Anurag Chandra, chased them in his car. He rammed their vehicle, causing it to crash into a tree off the road, killing three 16-year-old boys. In 2023, Chandra was found guilty on three counts of murder and three counts of attempted murder, and was sentenced to life in prison.

Investigative authorities have warned that the danger increases significantly when a doorbell prank escalates beyond simply pressing the bell to forcefully knocking or kicking on the door—a trend known as the "Door Kick Challenge." They also stressed that repeated doorbell pranks can cause fear and anger in victims, and that when multiple people gather late at night to film such pranks, the act may be considered harassment or an attempted home invasion rather than a joke. They urged the public to exercise extra caution.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.