Some Windsor home owners are expressing both fear and anger after being victims of the Tik Tok door knock challenge.
The social media trend encourages people to bang on or kick in the front doors or garages of homes and then run away while filming the incident.
The acts typically occur at night or in the early morning hours.
Christine Penney lives in the 1500 block of Howard Avenue and says she was woken up at 4:40 a.m. on Oct. 20 to screaming noises coming from her doorbell security camera, followed by a loud bang.
The video showed four young people screaming into the camera and then throwing a rock through the home's front porch window before running away.
Penney says she's pissed off and very, very angry.
"If it had been just the ringing of the doorbell, I would have been angry at first, but then some people thought it was quite funny that kids were being kids," she says. "But the fact that I have a smashed window—that's totally different; that's destruction of property."
The videos below show security footage captured first by the camera belonging to Brandon Seguin, followed by the video captured on the camera belonging to Christine Penney.
Brandon Seguin lives in the Riverside area and says he had it happen at his home this past March.
Seguin says he and his wife were out at a local establishment just down the street from their home when he got an alert on his phone showing someone on his doorbell security camera with their face covered and kicking his door before running away.
He rushed home right away as the couple's 16-year-old daughter and two-year-old child were in the house.
"I was definitely afraid, but seeing them run off gave me some reassurance that they didn't try to break in and gave up after one kick," he says.
Seguin says his heart was definitely racing.
"I was concerned my older daughter might have been upstairs and been afraid. I was more afraid for her safety and her fear," he says.
Seguin shared what happened to him after police recently issued a warning to the public, saying he didn't know at the time that what happened was part of a social media trend.
Police in Windsor issued a warning to the public about the challenge as they investigate several recent incidents related to the trend.
Just after 7 p.m. on Oct. 20, officers responded to a report of an attempted break-and-enter at a house in the 3000 block of Stillmeadow Road.
Unknown suspects allegedly kicked in the front door before running from the scene.
An hour later, a group of teenagers went to a home in the 7700 block of Hawthorne Drive, kicked the front door in, and threw a rock through a window.
Police say a group of teens were seen fleeing on foot.
The suspects in both incidents were not located and are still outstanding.
Young people are being urged not to take part in the trend as it can lead to criminal charges.
While police haven't heard of any weapons being involved in these incidents, they're also urging homeowners not to confront any of the suspects.
Anyone with information on these or other similar incidents is asked to call the Windsor Police Service Target Base Unit at 519-255-6700, ext. 4350.
The public can also contact Windsor and Essex County Crime Stoppers anonymously at 519-258-8477 (TIPS) or online at www.catchcrooks.com.
