- Some door knocking pranks in Utah are escalating into violence and criminal charges.
- Salt Lake City Police Sgt. Wilking warns of the dangers of these pranks.
- Homeowners are advised to contact police instead of confronting pranksters themselves.
NEPHI – Under the light of January's waning moon, two hooded figures hurried up the large concrete steps leading to Shawn Gubeli's front door.
"They're kind of chitter chattering coming up to the door, and you can see them like knock-knock ding-dong, and then they run," Gubeli said, describing video of the prank captured by a camera overlooking his front porch.
The figures, resembling two teenage boys, are heard making panicked laughing noises as they scurry away.
"They look like they're incapable, and the one almost falls," Gubeli said, chuckling and shaking his head as he reviewed the footage.
It's funny now, but when random ding-dong ditching first started at his home in 2023, his wife was home alone with the couple's five children, and no one was laughing that night.
"She called me just hysterically," he explained. "They kept coming back like every hour on the hour and just it got really escalated to the point where she called the police to come and check on her."
Though more sporadic these days, the pranks at their home have continued, as evidenced by the video recorded last month.
"We're dead asleep in the middle of the night, and so it's like you hear the ring and like instantly your heart just like goes off your chest," he said.
In attempts to discourage the pranksters, the family started keeping the porch lights on, invested in a camera, and once, Gubeli even chased and confronted some doorbell ditchers.
"I was pretty upset, just kind of like, you know, 'My family's sleeping, you're waking up my kids.' ... 'This can be very dangerous,'" he remembered telling them.
He's not wrong. Incidents across the country have ended in tragedy, including the shooting death of an 11-year-old boy in Texas last year.
Violence and criminal charges
"It's a different world," said Salt Lake City Police Sgt. Greg Wilking. "On the face of it, it's a harmless prank. But it's what happens after, and it's all the things that could happen."
Ding-dong ditching incidents are not something law enforcement agencies specifically track. But KSL Investigators have found four incidents in the past two years where a knock or ring at the front door led to criminal charges in Utah, along with several others that left homeowners feeling fearful and frustrated.
In August, court documents state Salt Lake City resident Tony Bernstone caught a 12-year-old boy who had rung his doorbell and run away. The boy told police Bernstone slapped him in the face, punched him in the stomach, and then took him to a nearby gas station to meet up with the boy's father. Bernstone is now charged with felony child abuse and kidnapping.
"That's a situation that just didn't need to happen," Wilking said.
In Utah County, Sgt. Ray Ormond said deputies have handled similar cases.
In 2024, Eagle Mountain resident Michael Roberts, frustrated by repeated pranks at his doorstep, fired plastic rounds at a group of teens he believed were responsible. The teens told investigators they thought they were being shot at with a real gun. Roberts faced criminal charges.
Another case in Riverton involved a 14-year-old boy who told police he was chased, caught and beaten after doorbell ditching at an apartment complex in June last year. Charging documents say one man pushed the teen's face into gravel, kicked and punched him, asked 'Do you want to meet Jesus tonight?' and stomped on his head. Marshall Aho is now charged with aggravated child abuse and has an active warrant after skipping court.
Why the escalation?
Wilking says that police and the public don't hear about all the times a prank ended without incident, so it's hard to track the percentage that ends violently.
"It's just these really bad incidents that seem to be popping up on our radar," Wilking said.
When asked why law enforcement thinks those really bad incidents are happening, Wilking and Ormond had a couple of ideas.
"It speaks to, I think, a bigger problem in society where we have confrontation with people, and we take things to the extreme," said Wilking. "People are really on edge and agitated and angry."
And, Sgt. Ormond added, fearful. He said that could be because the pranks have also become more intense. In another incident in Utah County last year, the person captured on a doorbell camera appears to be carrying a handgun.
"We have seen a trend where these juveniles are running up and pounding on the door and kicking the door," Ormond said, noise that could mimic a home invasion. "We've had people that have been scared by that."
While the intention is a harmless joke, the impact can be real fear, he said.
'When you're an adult, you need to be an adult'
Still, police warn against homeowners taking matters into their own hands.
"When you're an adult, you need to be an adult," Wilking said. "You can call the police. We can come and deal with it."
And parents should talk to teens about potential dangers.
"You don't know whose door you're going to go knock on or pound on," said Ormond.
"I'm guilty," Gubeli said. "I ding-dong ditched as a kid."
But back in those days, he said there was an element of familiarity. "We ding-dong ditched our friends' houses."
Luckily for the kids pounding on Gubeli's door now, he's chosen humor and acceptance as the way forward.
"Just silly boys," he said. "We'll let them ring the doorbell whenever they want now, and we'll leave them alone. Hopefully they'll stop."
Have you experienced something you think just isn't right? The KSL Investigators want to help. Submit your tip at investigates@ksl.com or 385-707-6153 so we can get working for you.
