Car surfing TikTok stunts leads to David Nagy dead, second teen with permanent brain damage as Northampton County, Pennsylvania prosecutors warn about the dangers of social media challenges.
Authorities in Pennsylvania are warning against the dangers of social media challenges after two recent cases ended in tragedy.
The incidents were unrelated to one another and involved different stunts, but both happened in Northampton County, 85 miles west of New York City and 80 miles north of Philadelphia.
Car surfing TikTok stunts leads to one teen dead and second with permanent brain damage
David Nagy, 17, on June 1, was taking part in the ‘surfing’ TikTok challenge, which involves tying oneself or objects to cars while a vehicle is speeding, when the vehicle the teen was tethered to slammed into a parked vehicle, killing him.
Investigators said the 17-year-old boy was killed when he was thrown from a flipped-over folding table that was being towed at a high rate of speed by a teen driver according to CBS Philadelphia.
The tragic incident happened in the parking lot of Freedom High School in Bethlehem, according to prosecutors.
At the time, Nagy was sitting on the upside down folding table only for the ‘speeding’ teen driver to ‘recklessly’ slam into a parked car according to NBC Philadelphia.
The un-identified driver, also 17 now faces involuntary manslaughter charges according to Northampton County District Attorney Stephen Baratta.
In another TikTok challenge gone wrong, 19-year-old Eniya Serina Alvarado allegedly drove 35mph in a Park and Ride parking lot while her 20-year-old friend stood on her car’s trunk, ‘surfing.’
TikTok challenge gone wrong in search of social validation
The friend was thrown from the vehicle and suffered permanent catastrophic head injuries in the March 18 tragedy, according to the police.
Alvarado faces charges of aggravated assault and aggravated assault by vehicle in that case.
In both cases, the teens’ deaths were captured on footage, with the intent to share the social media stunts on social media for social proof and social status building.
Neither teen is accused of ‘criminogenic thinking,’ meaning they are not accused of planning to hurt their friends according to FOX29.
However, Baratta said, they are allegedly criminally culpable because the incidents were ‘so grossly negligent and reckless.’
‘The families did have a closeness and a trust with these close friends — I mean they knew them very well,’ Baratta said during a press briefing on Wednesday. ‘That’s what’s so heartbreaking in this case.’
Baratta added that neither driver has a criminal record and neither victim’s family is ‘calling out for incarceration.’
As a result, he said his office won’t seek jail time for either of them if they agree to plea deals.
He said the families want to use the cases in the hope that other teens will make better decisions.
‘These families are seeking accountability and hope that these charges will result in deterrence for other youth who may find themselves attracted to the thrill of mimicking dangerous social media challenges that have the potential to injure others,’ the DA said.
The dangerous stunts are not just limited to Pennsylvania. A similar car surfing stunt in Utah left a 15-year-old girl with a severe brain injury last year.
TikTok says videos involving table and car surfing violate the company’s community guidelines and that 99.8% of them are removed proactively, and 92.4% of videos removed for violating the app’s rules are taken down before anyone views them.
