Knox County’s sheriff said in a Tuesday press conference that a shootout between two teens and his deputies, the result of a car theft, stemmed from a TikTok challenge.
“This case involved a TikTok challenge where you steal a vehicle, drive it for a day or two and then ditch it,” Sheriff Tom Spangler said in the press conference. “Some of the TikTok challenges that are out there are pretty disturbing. I’m sure that if some of our parents were aware of some of the things that are going on, I hope it would be safe to say they wouldn’t be real happy about that.”
The two teenage suspects have not been identified because they are juveniles.
Monday, they reportedly attempted to steal three vehicles before firing upon deputies who were called to the scene of the attempted thefts. At least one bullet struck a patrol car.
Spangler (pictured above) noted that his deputies will not spare anyone intent on doing harm in the community, regardless of age.
“We at the Knox County Sheriff’s Office will not allow criminals regardless of your age to create an unsafe environment for our citizens and our officers at the Knox County Sheriff’s Office,” Spangler said. “If you shoot at one of my officers, we’ll defend their life and the citizens of this community.”
The challenge referenced by Spangler is called the “Kia Challenge.”
In recent years, TikTokers and other online personalities began posting tutorial videos for stealing certain Kias and Hyundais not made with electronic immobilizers, which are standard on most vehicles and prevent would-be thieves from bypassing the ignition and starting the car.
As reported last year by The Tennessee Star, the trend hit Memphis particularly hard.
Earlier this year, the car manufacturers settled a $200 million class action lawsuit by vehicle owners impacted by the challenge.
Thousands of cars have been stolen since the viral trend began, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in February that there have been at least 14 reported crashes and eight fatalities stemming from the challenge.
On top of developing a theft deterrent software program that allowed owners to extend the length of their car alarms, Kia and Hyundai also provided tens of thousands of steering wheel locks to law enforcement entities around the country, which were then given to Kia and Hyundai owners.
Meanwhile, Spangler said that law enforcement is becoming wise to the ways of the thieves.
“There’s a lot of our technological individuals as well keeping an eye on what’s going on on the internet, social media,” he said. “You start getting information of individuals talking to each other. That’s why they’re criminals, because they’re not real smart. At least they don’t put a lot of thought into it. They get by with it for some time but eventually they end up getting caught.”
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter/X.
