OMAHA, Neb. — Jay Johnson loves his two dogs. He says to him, they are family.

This past weekend, he came close to losing them after they escaped from the backyard of his Omaha home. The dogs escaped while Johnson was in the shower.

"(I) get out of the shower, notice there's a message on my phone, ‘I got your dog’,” said Johnson.

That's when Johnson came out, he realized his fence was broken which was how the dogs escaped. He said someone ran into and destroyed his fence the night before.

Luckily, Johnson was able to recover his animals, but he also has an $800 expense to replace the fence, and he's not alone.

The so-called "Kool-Aid Man Challenge" on TikTok is leading to a rash of vandalism in Omaha and surrounding areas.

In the challenge, someone runs into and destroys random fences in an effort to mimic the mascot of the popular powdered drink. The damage is not an easy fix, especially these days.

Surveillance video that was recently captured shows a group of several people charging another fence at a different home in Omaha.

The footage went viral on social media which is getting the attention of law enforcement.

“They get into a group mentality where one of them thinks they have a good idea and the others ones go along with it," said Lt. James Wrigley, Sarpy County Sheriff's Office.
"Once we meet up with these kids individually they tend to say they're sorry and wouldn't do this by themselves,”

Wrigley said say his department has responded to eight calls of this happening across the county. In the case of the aforementioned video, around $3,500 worth of damage was done to the fence.

Lindsay Anderson, Operations Manager at S&W Fence said this kind of damage is normally tough to fix. Current supply shortages make the job even harder.

“Vinyl pricing more than doubled when the pandemic hit as with everything," said Anderson. "The cost to repair them for some people is more than the price they paid to get their entire fence.”

Johnson said he wants to see the people doing this face real consequences.

“They need to learn a lesson, big time," he said. "It can't just be a slap on the hand.”

The Sarpy County Sheriff's Office said they're still looking for the individuals in the video.

Those responsible for the damage could face criminal mischief charges, and the severity of those charges would depend upon the damage to property.

This story was first reported by Ron Johnson at KMTV in Omaha, Neb.

A mother in Pennsylvania is suing TikTok and its parent company ByteDance after her 10-year-old daughter died.

Tawainna Anderson says her daughter Nylah died after taking part in the so-called “Blackout Challenge,” in which users are encouraged to hold their breath until they pass out.

Anderson said in December of 2021, Nylah ended up in the intensive care unit and was hospitalized for several days before she passed away.

The lawsuit states that Nylah attempted the challenge after her “for you page” on the app showed her a video of it.

The “for you page” brings users videos based on an algorithm, which is based on their viewing and engagement habits.

The lawsuit goes on to say that the TikTok algorithm “determined” that the Blackout Challenge would be of interest to the 10-year-old girl.

Anderson goes on to accuse TikTok of preying “upon vulnerable users, such as children.”

The mom is now suing TikTok and ByteDance for wrongful death and negligence for an undisclosed amount in damages.

TikTok told NBC News that the challenge has been around before the app started and “has never been a TikTok trend.”