IMPERIAL BEACH, Calif. (KGTV) - An Imperial Beach woman says she woke up to find the lug nuts on her vehicles tampered with.
A few months ago, a neighbor approached Tina Gil about a suspicious discovery outside their homes on Hemlock Avenue.
“He said that his lug nuts were tampered with,” said Gil.
Tina checked her own vehicles, a truck, and a car.
“On my vehicle, about three tires, and then, on my husband's vehicle, one tire,” said Gil.
She found missing lug nut covers and loosened lug nuts.
“When my husband came home, he tightened them up,” said Gil.
In the months since, Gil says at least seven vehicles in her neighborhood have been targeted.
“It's very scary, very scary that someone would do something like that,” said Gil.
The incident in her neighborhood comes amid a new TikTok challenge dubbed the "Lug Nut Challenge," which has people loosening lug nuts, then filming to see what happens. A victim in Massachusetts reportedly had a tire fall off while driving.
"It’s just a very sad thing that kids will succumb to doing things like that just to be accepted,” said Gil.
ABC 10News talked to local tow companies, who have yet to see a spike in lug nut-related incidents. If the number of incidents does start to rise, Gil worries about what the price for likes on TikTok will be, with tampered cars traveling at highway speeds.
“It's heartless and cruel that they are doing this to people. They shouldn't just do it for fun. They should think about the consequences. Something really horrible could happen because of this,” said Gil.
ABC 10News reached out to TikTok for a comment on the new challenge and are waiting to hear back.
