Deadly Calif. car crash possibly linked to TikTok ‘Kia challenge’
Police in California are investigating whether a high-speed car chase that ended in a deadly crash earlier this week is tied to a dangerous TikTok challenge.
Jess Bradford Jr., 21, and Michael Wyrick, 16, died early Monday when the stolen Hyundai they were driving in collided with a fence and a tree at Peterson Park in Lodi, the Lodi Police Department said.
Authorities believe two men were part of a group that stole both the Hyundai and a Kia the previous night, possibly as part of the viral TikTok “Kia challenge,” which involves hotwiring both models with a USB drive, CBS reported.
Less than an hour before the accident, Bradford, Wyrick and the drivers of the Kia, which remains missing, led police on a lengthy chase, the outlet said.
Police suspended the pursuit when the drivers of the stolen vehicles turned their lights off, the LPD stated.
“Like all my stuff, I’m just like … I have no idea where it is. It’s crazy,” the owner of the Kia, who remains unnamed, told CBS.
Witness Gannon Shumer said his parked car was also dented by one of the stolen vehicles during the police chase.
“I’m still kind of mind blown by how it even happened and how this happened, how he got all the way out there. It’s just crazy,” he said of the accident.
The Lodi accident is not the first time TikTok has been tied to a fatal crash: Last fall, four Buffalo teenagers were killed when the stolen Kia they were riding in crashed at high speed.
Police departments across the US have seen an uptick in Kia and Hyundai thefts since the first video of the trick was posted last summer.
