A Canyon Lake homeowner on Clear Water Drive was jolted out of bed on Saturday evening around 10:55 p.m. by loud bangs on their garage door. Upon checking their Ring app, they observed a male approaching their front door, with his shirt covering his face to conceal his identity. The homeowner immediately called 911.
After banging on the garage, the suspect moved to the front door where he covered up the Ring camera with his hand and attempted to open the door, according to the resident. Fortunately, the front door was locked and the homeowner was on the phone with police dispatch.
Deputies in six vehicles quickly responded to the scene. Deputies searched the property, including the interior of the home, but the suspect was not found.
The homeowner is uncertain whether the suspect was attempting to break into their home or if it was part of a prank. “If it was a prank, what these teens don’t realize is that if that front door had been unlocked and he would have stumbled into my home, he could have gotten shot,” the homeowner said. “They are escalating the door-kicking prank into trying to cause more fear for the homeowner and it’s going to go bad one day.”
Unbeknownst to the homeowner, just five minutes prior to this incident, a camera belonging to a homeowner on Spray Drive captured two males near their front door, one of whom banged on the door before running away.
Approximately 10 minutes later, a camera at a residence on Schooner Drive recorded a male engaging in the same behavior. The homeowner reported that this was the fifth time in the past year that such an incident had occurred at their home.
In all three incidents, the suspects used their shirts to conceal their identities.
Unlike previous pranks in Canyon Lake, such as the door kick challenge, a modern version of ding-dong ditch popularized on TikTok, no property damage was reported.
Residents are concerned that the escalating pranks could lead to serious harm and of the impact on law enforcement resources, which are being diverted from more critical issues to address what some kids consider harmless fun.
