Category: CNN Regional

By Rachael Perry

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    PORT ST. LUCIE, Florida (WPBF) — A viral social media challenge is raising concerns nationwide, including in communities on the Treasure Coast.

The trend is known as the door-kicking challenge, and officials are warning of both the dangers and legal consequences.

A homeowner in Port St Lucie recently posted a video to social media claiming someone was aggressively kicking and banging on their door overnight. They said the person appeared to be going to several homes in the neighborhood.

People in the comments quickly suspected it may have been teens taking part in the viral challenge.

WPBF 25 News caught up with Master Sgt Dominick Mesiti, who explained how the challenge works and what makes it so dangerous.

“You’ll either have juveniles or young adults tend to conceal their identity, maybe armed with a foe weapon or not, a pellet gun or a BB gun that looks real, and they attempt to kick in the front door of a residence during the middle of the night, alerting the residence at 2 a.m. or whatever have you,” Mesiti said.

He said the trend is especially dangerous in the state of Florida.

“We have the Stand Your Ground laws plus the Castle Doctrine, where you can use reasonable force up to and including deadly force to protect yourself. At 2 a.m., if somebody’s kicking your door in and you don’t know their intention, then it could end very, very poorly,” he said.

Two teens were arrested in Volusia County after officials said they were caught on camera, one wearing a mask, walking up to a home and kicking in the door before running away.

The Volusia County Sheriff, Mike Chitwood, said it’s “a good way to end up dead, especially in Florida.”

“You got to think you’re about to become a victim of a home invasion robbery, and you’re under a castle doctrine. You’re going to shoot first and ask questions later,” Chitwood told WESH 2 News. “You’re endangering your future with this TikTok challenge. You know, you’re going to be charged with a felony.”

Master Sgt. Dominick Mesiti echoed that by explaining the legal consequences.

“When you’re physically trying to kick in a door, you likely damage the door, which is criminal mischief. If you make entry into the home, you’re looking at a trespass at a minimum, maybe even a burglary charge, because your intent is obviously to scare or breach the peace. So, if there’s an intent to commit a crime within a home, that’s a burglary. So you’re looking at several different charges that you could be facing by attempting this type of, quote unquote, prank,” he said.

On top of the legal consequences, Mesiti said the threat to life is extremely concerning. He said the PSLPD hopes parents take the time to explain that to their children.

“Tell their children not to give in to peer pressure and educate them on what the consequences are legally and just in general, where they could be seriously injured or maybe even killed attempting to do such a prank,” he added.

When it comes to the use of force, Mesiti said it’s a case-by-case basis; however, he emphasized the importance of understanding the laws and being responsible gun owners.

“You need to know what your rights are as far as protecting yourself and your property. And there is a risk to it. Law enforcement will get involved, and we will conduct an investigation. It will go to a grand jury if there’s a death involved, and that’s up to a grand jury to decide if the homeowner did or did not properly utilize that kind of force,” Mesiti said.

To avoid that from happening, he said it’s important that people report these incidents to help law enforcement prevent a tragedy.

“Our goal is to prevent something from happening. We don’t want to have to make an arrest, especially if it’s a juvenile conducting a prank, but if they’re damaging property, if they’re intentionally trying to kick a door in, if they’re intentionally trying to scare people, there may be legal consequences,” he told WPBF.

He said after seeing cases nationwide of children and teens taking part in pranks like ding-dong ditching and being killed in the process, these conversations are crucial.

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By Romelo Styles

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    VIRGINIA BEACH (WTKR) — In the heart of Pungo, the sound of dirt bikes revving and tires spinning through dirt signals more than just family fun — it’s the beginning of what could become Virginia Beach’s newest community resource.

Mark Brown, a Virginia Beach father who has been riding dirt bikes for 30 years, is working to transform his backyard track into a formal youth training facility. Alongside his wife Somer, Brown wants to create a safe space where children ages 4 to 8 can learn proper riding techniques before heading to larger, more dangerous tracks.

“I’ve been riding ever since I was seven, so I’ve been riding for 30 years now,” Brown said.

The idea grew from watching his son Dayton, who has been riding since age 2, navigate the sport with natural ability.

“He’s never used training wheels or anything. His balance has just always been from the start — little balance bikes — and it’s kind of like a natural thing to him now when he’s riding. It’s his track now,” Brown said.

The Browns’ vision extends beyond their own family. After coaching their children’s T-ball and softball teams, they recognized a gap in youth dirt bike instruction in the area.

“We taught his T-ball team and our daughter’s softball team, and we were just sitting there thinking one day, you know, we should do this with the dirt bike stuff,” Brown said.

Currently, most local tracks mix young riders with adults on larger bikes, creating safety concerns for parents.

“A lot of the practice tracks we’d go to with him, it’s all size bikes. He’s riding with adults on bigger bikes — and I don’t feel safe with that. I really wanted a spot just for the little kids,” Brown said.

The family’s proposed training program would focus on safety fundamentals, teaching young riders proper techniques for turns, corners and basic riding skills in a controlled environment.

“Take mainly kids like within the 4 to 8-year-old range — kind of almost like T-ball. You have a group of them out here, be able to work with them individually — turns, corners, teaching them safety,” Brown said.

The response from local families has exceeded the Browns’ expectations.

“When we started, it was just an idea. Then people were like — please do this, my kid needs somebody to help,” Brown said.

The family is currently working with Virginia Beach city officials to obtain a conditional use permit that would allow them to convert their agricultural land into a small training facility.

“Yeah, I’ve spoke with a couple people, and so far I feel like it’s pretty positive,” Brown said.

If approved, the Browns hope to welcome young riders from across Virginia Beach, building both safety skills and confidence in the next generation of motocross enthusiasts.

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By WTKR Web Staff

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    VIRGINIA BEACH, Virginia (WTKR) — A contractor was sentenced to 30 years in prison Tuesday after he pleaded guilty to raping an 11-year-old girls on three separate occasions.

Ricardo Mejia was hired to renovate a family’s bathroom but instead committed crimes against the child on three different occasions. He was charged with three counts of rape of a child under the age of 13, and for breaking into the home.

With a heavy accent that was difficult to understand at times, he addressed the court Tuesday before his sentencing to apologize.

“I know I am not the only one experiencing hard times,” said Mejia. “I’m sorry for the pain she is going through in this process.”

A search warrant outlines how on Oct. 9, 2024 around 2:30 a.m., the parents heard noises coming from their 11-year-old daughter’s bedroom. The door was locked and they got a butter knife to force it open. Then, they saw a naked man climbing out of the window, the warrant says.

Court records state that Mejia is accused of climbing through the window on three occasions. He confirmed this during an interview with legal authorities.

Mejia said the first rape took place when the child’s parents weren’t home, multiple days before he was caught. The second and third times happened at night in the child’s bedroom, according to court documents.

We previously interviewed Crime Analyst Richard James about this case.

“That that is a clear violation of trust for someone who clearly understands the layout of your home, how to get in your house, and how to get out of your home,” said James.

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By Shelley Bortz

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    PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — It was a tense situation at Pittsburgh Colfax on Tuesday after a 7-year-old student in the school’s autistic support program briefly wandered away during recess. Staff and school police immediately jumped into action, and thanks to a retired teacher, that child is safe tonight.

Police say the little boy vanished just after noon during a game of hide-and-seek at Colfax elementary. That set off an immediate search that ended when a neighbor called 911.

Officials say it happened around 12:15 when a 7-year-old student left the school grounds without anyone noticing.

Once staff realized the child was missing, they immediately initiated a search of the building and the surrounding property. The school was placed on “hold” status, which means students stayed in classrooms while every locker, closet and restroom was searched.

It wasn’t until another student spoke up that it was learned the 7-year-old talked about “playing hide-and-seek” and “running far so they wouldn’t be caught.”

The student was finally found after knocking on a nearby neighbor’s door, which happened to be the home of a retired Pittsburgh Public Schools teacher.

That former teacher called 911, and within minutes, the child was reunited with his family.

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By Abigail Kurten

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    NORWALK, Iowa (KCCI) — A Norwalk woman who lost her ability to speak to ALS got it back in an unexpected way.

Robin Leaper was diagnosed with ALS, or Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, in 2023. Since then, she’s struggled with muscle weakness, difficulty eating, and she’s no longer able to speak.

It’s been an adjustment, to say the least.

“For the first year, I couldn’t even say ALS without crying.” she said.

When she was diagnosed, she was the the Parks and Recreation Director for the City of Norwalk.

Since then, she’s tried to communicate in other ways, like text-to-speech software or sign language, but neither one has allowed her to use her own voice.

Until the city’s Marketing and Communications Specialist, Tai Lieu, came in.

Lieu combed through hours of public meeting recordings in which Leaper spoke, isolating her vocals and uploading them to an AI voice recreation software.

That software allows Leaper to type her words, which are then read aloud in her own voice.

“It sounded as if she was just standing there, speaking on her own,” Lieu said of Leaper’s first attempt at using the software when she won Norwalk’s Citizen of the Year Award last year. “I had several people say ‘I didn’t realize she was playing a recording of her voice.'”

But for Leaper, the AI recreation does more than allow her to use her own voice; it allows her to feel like herself again.

“It’s your identity,” she said. “People can hear your voice without seeing and they know it’s you. It gave me back a little piece ALS stole from me.”

As for what’s next, Leaper says she has a new priority: finding a cure.

She plans to start with Altoona’s Walk to Defeat ALS on Saturday.

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