Security cameras near 40th Street and Thunderbird captured two people who appeared to be teenagers jumping out of a silver SUV to tackle, kick and throw a resident's Halloween decorations across her yard. It was one of several north Phoenix homes hit the same night, according to neighbors who say they believe the same group was responsible.
“Two figures who appear to be teenagers jumped out of the back,” one homeowner's footage shows, according to Arizona's Family, which first reported the incident. The outlet described the scene at the resident's home, saying the group “ran up, tackled, kicked and threw her Halloween decorations across the yard” before taking off. The station reported that neighbor after neighbor said they were hit that same night, and that residents believe it was the same group moving house to house.
One neighbor, identified only as Keri, told the station that the same thing happened at her home about 30 minutes after the first incident, this time ending with the teens kicking her front door. Both Keri and the first homeowner, identified as Suzie, filed reports with Phoenix police, who said they are investigating and are asking anyone with information to come forward.
A Wider Pattern Across the Valley
The north Phoenix incident is not isolated. According to 12News, the station connected with 18 residents across North Phoenix, Glendale and Peoria who said their homes were vandalized since the start of October. Home-surveillance videos reviewed by the station showed young adults exiting vehicles and, on separate occasions, stabbing inflatables, stealing items or destroying front-yard displays altogether.
Despite the volume of reports, 12News noted that homeowners have filed police reports in multiple cities, but authorities have not officially connected the incidents and have so far only said they are looking into the matter. Separately, Fox 10 reported that residents near I-17 and Jomax Road in north Phoenix found their inflatable decorations not just deflated or stolen but, in many cases, stabbed and slashed. Surveillance footage from that neighborhood, according to Fox 10 Phoenix, showed vandals arriving in a sedan, destroying three inflatables and driving off in less than 10 seconds.
Echoes of an Earlier Door-Kicking Case
Arizona's Family noted that last month, a 14-year-old was accused of causing an estimated $10,000 in damage near the same north Phoenix neighborhood in connection with a TikTok “door kick challenge.” Reporting on that earlier case has conflicting details about when the teen was taken into custody — ABC15 reported a Sept. 23 arrest, while Fox 10 Phoenix reported the teen was booked into a juvenile detention center on Sept. 13 on accusations of criminal damage and unlawful use of transportation.
In that case, investigators said they were not seeking to arrest or press charges against a second juvenile seen in the footage because they had not identified that person and said the juvenile had not damaged the doors, per ABC15. Investigators believe that earlier incident was connected to the door kick challenge, a social media trend in which participants record themselves kicking or banging on home doors before running away, according to the station. It is worth noting that authorities have not officially linked that earlier case to the more recent string of decoration vandalism reported this Halloween season.
A Trend Spreading Well Beyond Phoenix
The door-kicking phenomenon has drawn attention from police well outside Arizona. Komando.com reported that teens are kicking people's front doors as hard as they can, running away and filming themselves, often for TikTok, and that police departments in Massachusetts, Florida, Texas, Kansas and Oregon have all issued warnings about the trend.
Halloween decoration vandalism has also surfaced far from the Valley. In Spokane, Washington, police are investigating three vandalism reports received within the past week, according to KXLY. One North Spokane homeowner said a group of four people ran through her yard and used knives to stab her inflatables, destroying seven of 10 decorations, with her total loss estimated at more than $800. A South Hill homeowner told the station his display had been vandalized for the second time that month.
Back in north Phoenix, no arrests or charges tied to the latest string of decoration vandalism have been reported, and the total cost of the damage caused that night has not been disclosed. Phoenix police have asked anyone with information about the incidents to come forward as the investigation continues.
