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NY Post
New York Post
10 May 2023


NextImg:Deadly 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 that 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 hot wiring both models with a USB drive, CBS reported.

Less than an hour before the accident, the Bradford, Wyrick, and the drivers of the Kia, which remains missing, led police on a lengthy chase, the outlet said.

Police suspended their 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.

The white Hyundai’s roof was ripped off when the driver collided with a tree.
CBS13

A memorial for the victims at the crash site.

Both victims are believed to have been part of a group that stole two cars in the area the night before the fatal crash.
CBS13

Gannon Shumer.

Gannon Shumer said his car was dented by the police chase before the accident.
CBS13

“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 that 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 a 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.