TikTok pranks and delivery fails: A look back at the odd cases of 2025
Any other time of the year, an aged bearded gentleman breaking into suburban homes through chimneys would make our list of 2025’s odd and unusual crimes and cases.
But for the sake of the season, we’ll let it pass. Instead, here’s a look at some of the more unusual and unexpected reports of mischief and mayhem that crossed our desks this year.
Social turmoil
Kids and TikTok didn’t mix well this year. While the video-sharing social media platform can be fun and even educational, it played to young people’s worst impulses in 2025.
It started in the spring with the Chromebook Challenge, which had students sticking metal items — paper clips, pins, scissors, etc. — into the USB or charging port of their school-issued laptops.
Participants would then videotape the resulting short circuits, sparks, smoke and flames, and post it on TikTok. While the damage in most instances was minor and limited to the computers, authorities across the country reported cases of fires that evacuated school buildings and arson charges against students.
Not to be outdone, the more dangerous and destructive Door Kick Challenge arrived over the summer. This challenge saw young people recording themselves attempting to kick down homes’ front doors and then posting their actions on TikTok.
Besides the damage that could be done, police said they worried pranksters might run into an armed homeowner who, fearing the worst, might open fire in response.
“Startling a homeowner in the overnight hours and/or damaging property is not funny,” Arlington Heights police said after several residents were victimized. “We should all agree everyone's safety is more important than views/likes.”
Family feud
Thanksgiving gatherings are supposed to be filled with love and gratitude, but we all know there are times when family can fray your nerves.
Authorities say that was the case for one North suburban man this year when, charges allege, he set his home on fire after an argument with relatives.
Erik J. Crump, 21, faces aggravated arson and residential arson charges stemming from the fire that broke out in his Beach Park home after Thanksgiving dinner.
Lake County sheriff’s investigators said the fire occurred after an argument in which family members told Crump he was going to be kicked out of the house.
Crump is scheduled for an arraignment Jan. 6.
Crashing out
Don’t catch your Zs in your Model Y.
That’s what authorities say a Lake in the Hills man was doing behind the wheel of his self-driving Tesla on Oct. 15 when it rear-ended a South Barrington police SUV.
According to police reports, Joseph Fresso, 43, was in a 2022 Tesla Model Y headed east on Algonquin Road just as a pair of South Barrington police SUVs were pulled over, with their emergency lights on, conducting a traffic investigation.
After the Tesla struck the rear one of the police vehicles, Fresso admitted he had fallen asleep and woke up too late to avoid the collision, reports state.
Fortunately, no one was seriously injured, but Fresso was ticketed for violating Scott’s Law, which requires drivers to slow down and change lanes when approaching a stopped emergency vehicle, and for failing to reduce speed to avoid an accident.
“Technology continues to evolve and can enhance safety when used properly,” Deputy Chief Adam Puralewski later said. “However, it’s important to remember that drivers are still responsible for the safe operation of their vehicles at all times.”
Where’s the beef?
You might be justified in withholding a tip if a food delivery service messes up your order. But robbing the driver seems a bridge too far.
That’s what authorities allege a Des Plaines man did in August when a driver showed up without a roast beef sandwich that had been ordered.
John Neri, 57, faces aggravated unlawful restraint and armed robbery charges after police alleged he grabbed the driver, pulled him inside his apartment and then blocked the door to prevent him from leaving. While holding a kitchen knife, Neri took back $20 he’d given the driver, police said, before allowing the man to leave.
Neri, who remains in custody at the Cook County jail, is set to appear in court Jan. 23, records show.
If it weren’t for bad luck
There’s bad luck, and then there’s what authorities say happened to Filip Simonovic.
According to DuPage County prosecutors, the 43-year-old Bloomingdale man was in the middle of robbing a gas station in West Chicago early May 26 when a police officer randomly stopped in to pick up a beverage.
When the officer went to the counter to pay, prosecutors said, the worker told him that the other guy standing there — later identified as Simonovic — had just pointed a gun at him.
Officers found two handguns on Simonovic, who claimed he was just joking when he demanded money from the clerk, authorities said. Prosecutors didn’t find it funny — he was charged with attempted armed robbery with a firearm, unlawful possession of a weapon and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon.
He’s set to appear in court on the case Jan. 8.
Star-dazed
Tara Reid gained fame starring in the “American Pie” and “Sharknado” film franchises, but she made headlines here last month when she said she was drugged at a Rosemont hotel.
Reid told police she fell ill in the early morning hours of Nov. 23 after leaving her drink briefly unattended in the lobby bar of the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel.
Rosemont paramedics responded for a medical call involving a person later identified as Reid. She was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment, officials said.
Video from a witness shared with the celebrity gossip website TMZ shows a dazed-appearing Reid first being helped into a wheelchair in the hotel lobby and then rolled out in a stretcher by paramedics.
Two days later, the 50-year-old actress filed a police report with the Rosemont Public Safety Department.
In an update earlier this month, authorities said they’d reviewed surveillance video from the hotel and conducted multiple interviews, but found no evidence anyone tampered with her drink. However, police said the matter is still an open investigation.
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