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Time of India
4 days ago
- Time of India
Social media stunt: 12-year-old boy pours boiling water on sleeping younger brother; prank goes wrong
In a startling incident, a nine-year-old boy was left with severe burns after his 12-year-old brother poured hot water on him while he slept, as part of a social media stunt. According to the Lancaster Township Police Department, the older brother boiled water in a microwave before dousing his younger sibling to perform "Hot Water Challenge" on July 29. The younger brother, who suffered severe burns to his neck and chest, was sent to Lehigh Burn Centre in Allentown for urgent treatment. The Hot Water Challenge is a dangerous social media prank stunt that involves people drinking or pouring scalding water on themselves or someone else. The 12-year-old has been arrested, charged with aggravated assault and slapped with recklessly endangering his brother; meanwhile, the parents are being pressed to monitor their children's online activity. This is not the first time that a child has endangered someone else while performing a sick social media stunt. In past, several teens and children suffered severe injuries, permanent scars due to "Hot Water Challenge." Earlier in 2018, a boy from Indianapolis pulled the same prank on his friend who was sleeping. The 15-year-old boy suffered second-degree burns on his back, chest, and face due to this incident. The boys reportedly saw this stunt on YouTube and wanted to try it. "My skin just fell off my chest, and then I looked in the mirror and I had skin falling off here and on my face," Kyland Clark told WXIN. In 2017, an 8-year-old girl died after she drank boiling water through a straw after a cousin dared her.
New York Post
4 days ago
- New York Post
Pennsylvania boy, 12, charged for scalding 9-year-old sleeping brother with boiling water in disturbing social media prank
A 9-year-old boy in Pennsylvania was severely burned after his older brother poured scalding hot water on him as part of a disturbing social media challenge, police said. The warped 12-year-old was arrested and charged with aggravated assault after boiling water in a microwave and drenching his sleeping sibling with it as part of the 'Hot Water Challenge' on July 29, according to the Lancaster Township Police Department. The dangerous prank, which involves people drinking or dumping seething water on themselves or someone else, left the young boy with severe burns to his neck and chest. Advertisement The 9-year-old was drenched with blistering water as part of the 'Hot Water Challenge.' unknown He was rushed to the Lehigh Burn Center in Allentown for treatment, police said. The troubled culprit was also slapped with recklessly endangering another person. Advertisement The investigation is ongoing, with authorities pressing parents to monitor their children's online activity. The sick stunt has made headlines in recent years, with teens and children suffering gruesome, permanent scars from the blazing hot water. In July 2018, a 15-year-old boy from Indianapolis suffered second-degree burns on his back, chest, and face after a friend pulled the same prank on him while he slept. The boy suffered severe burns to his neck and chest. Advertisement The pair had reportedly looked up the moronic social media craze on YouTube and wanted to try it. 'My skin just fell off my chest, and then I looked in the mirror and I had skin falling off here and, on my face,' Kyland Clark told WXIN at the time. An 8-year-old Florida girl was killed in 2017 when she drank boiling water through a straw after being dared to do so by her cousin.
The Hill
17-06-2025
- The Hill
Indiana trooper accused of defrauding company over $800 soundbar
ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, Ind. (WXIN) – An Indiana State trooper accused of theft attempted to defraud a company out of more than $800, investigators say. Andrew Kocsis, 39, is charged with felony counts of theft and obstruction of justice, along with a misdemeanor count of fraud. Kocsis has served as an ISP trooper for 17 years and was most recently assigned to the General Headquarters in Indianapolis. The charges surround a JBL-brand rally bar — a soundbar that can be attached to utility vehicles — that costs about $810. According to the probable cause affidavit, Kocsis ordered the rally bar from a Minnesota company in September 2024. When the package arrived at his home, he claimed the box contained landscaping paving bricks, according to court documents, implying that someone had stolen the rally bar and swapped it out with the pavers. He emailed the company photos of the package. An employee responded with a message stating that he would contact UPS and have the police investigate the matter, according to the documents. The employee added that he didn't see any damage to the box, which would indicate that it had been damaged or tampered with during shipping. He also noted that the paving stones would've destroyed the box if they'd been rattling around inside during shipping. A photo from UPS confirmed delivery of the package on Sept. 5, 2024. Kocsis called the business and informed the employee that he was a police officer, court documents said. He allegedly emailed the employee identification, including his driver's license and ISP ID card. The employee agreed to reimburse Kocsis for his purchase ($809.95 was the exact amount). According to court documents, something about the situation nagged at the employee, who wondered if the customer had scammed him or perhaps stolen Kocsis' identity, The employee contacted Indiana State Police on Oct. 18, 2024, more than a month after the disputed delivery. An ISP investigator interviewed the employee, who had packed the rally bar himself and believed the photos Kocsis sent were inconsistent with how the packing materials would have responded to being bombarded by paving bricks. The investigator saw 'no indication' of damage to the box or 'even scratches from the shifting bricks,' according to court documents. On Oct. 22, 2024, investigators talked to Kocsis about the rally bar. He said he received the package, which had three bricks duct-taped together inside instead of the soundbar. He considered the issue resolved with the refund and said he'd thrown away the box and the bricks. He also claimed a neighbor told him they'd seen a 'suspicious couple' who 'appeared to be potential burglars' around the time of the delivery. Investigators consulted a UPS security supervisor, who looked at the photos Kocsis had sent. She, like the company employee, was skeptical of Kocsis' claims. The bricks were not tightly packed inside the box, the supervisor said, and that meant they would have slipped around inside and done 'extensive damage' to the box and packing materials. The photo taken by the UPS driver who delivered the package showed no damage to the box. The supervisor believed it was 'nearly impossible' for an employee to switch out the contents and then walk away with the large rally bar without being seen. In her view, the bricks were likely swapped in after the package was delivered, the affidavit said. On Nov. 8, 2024, in the presence of his attorney, Kocsis talked to investigators again. He maintained he didn't receive the rally bar. He told the investigators he'd purchased a new rally bar from a different company in October and had also bought one during a 'private sale' in June. The one he bought in June didn't have a serial number. During an examination of Kocsis' phone, investigators found a text conversation between Kocsis and a friend. In the conversation, they discussed the installation of a rally bar. The timestamp showed the conversation happened a couple of hours after Kocsis called the company about his problematic delivery. The friend, a coworker, told police he'd helped Kocsis install a rally bar on a Kawasaki Mule on Sept. 6, 2024. The rally bar was out of its package but was in a shipping box with a shipping label. The mounting brackets and installation hardware were still sealed in bags, leading Kocsis' friend to believe the equipment was new, according to court documents. The friend said Kocsis never said he received a package filled with paving bricks. In fact, Kocsis texted him the day the package was delivered, saying he'd received the rally bar and asking for help installing it. On Nov. 18, 2024, investigators executed a search warrant a Kocsis' home and seized two rally bars. One of them—the rally bar Kocsis claimed he'd purchased in a private sale—had been 'dismantled, cut open and made completely inoperable.' Stickers for various parts had been removed from the internal components, leaving behind nothing investigators could use to identify the rally bar's point of origin. Further investigation found Kocsis allegedly attempted a similar deception with a $670 order for a horn kit, front floor mat set, pro sheet cover and storage cover for a Kawasaki Mule. According to court documents, he claimed he never received the items, which he had ordered on Sept. 5, 2024. UPS took a photo of the delivery on Sept. 7, 2024, confirming the package had arrived, so the company didn't refund Kocsis. The state trooper filed a charge dispute with Capital One. On Sept. 20, 2024, he filed a theft report in St. Joseph County claiming the items never arrived at his home. Again, Kocsis sent messages to his friend, according to court documents. On Sept. 8, 2024, he asked his friend to help him install a Kawasaki horn. The friend helped him with the installation on Sept. 9, 2024. Kocsis is due to appear for an initial court hearing on July 8. ISP confirmed Kocsis has been placed on administrative leave without pay while the investigation continues.
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Scammers pulling double-whammy credit card schemes
WXIN/WTTV – Like the old saying goes: fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. And that's exactly what some scammers are trying to do with fake websites designed to steal not one but at least two of your credit cards. Not only is A.I. making it easier for criminals to make websites that look like legitimate shopping sites, according to Scamicide, it's making it easier for them to get even greedier. Crooks who make copycat websites often try to get victims to enter credit card information, thinking they're making a purchase. When the victim enters the card information, thinking they're buying something, the scammer simply keeps the information and starts making purchases of their own or sells the info to someone else. However, one card isn't enough for some bad guys, according to Scamicide. In some cases, when you try to use your credit card, the site might say it was declined and you need to try another card. If you do, you've now turned over two credit cards to the bad guys. Experts point out that even if a website comes up high in an internet search, the scammers may have paid for that high position or tricked the search engine into pushing it toward the top. Scamicide says if you plan to make a purchase on a website, make sure the web address starts with https. The 's' is important because it means your communication on the site is encrypted and most copycat sites aren't. Also, if the domain name doesn't seem at all related to the company name, that's a sign of a possible fake. There are also several websites where you can enter a web address and see if it checks out as legitimate or not. Google Safe Browsing Transparency Report allows you to type in the web address and see if Google thinks it's a scam. You can also use a site called Whois to see who owns a particular website and how long it's been registered online. If you think you're shopping on a popular website like Amazon or Best Buy, but the search shows the site has only been around for four months and it's owned by someone in India, it's a fake site. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Miami Herald
04-06-2025
- General
- Miami Herald
Man planned sex acts with girl, told her he's ‘built like Spongebob,' PA cops say
An Indiana man is accused of trying to meet a runaway teen for sex acts, but it really was police waiting for him, officials say. James Raber of Arlington is facing charges of attempted child molestation and child solicitation, Randolph County court records show. Raber is 63 years old, WXIN reported. Over the course of several weeks, Raber sent sexually explicit messages through Facebook Messenger to a 13-year-old girl named Steph — but Steph was actually a fake profile used by a detective with the Randolph County Sheriff's Department, according to a probable cause statement filed May 30. In the highly graphic messages, Raber repeatedly told Steph about sex acts he wanted to do with her, according to the statement. 'How's my sexy girl this morning?' Raber asked in a May 14 message, the statement said. The detective responded about 12 hours later as Steph, saying she had run away from home and was 'hiding' at a male friend's home. Raber 'constantly' asked her if she was having sex with the friend, said that he was jealous and that she should stay with him instead, and could stay with him 'long term' if she wanted, the statement read. He asked her if she would meet with him in person, documents read. She agreed and they made plans to meet at a Village Pantry convenience store in Farmland, at which point they would leave together and get a hotel, the detective said. On May 29, the day of the meeting, Raber described himself to Steph, documents read. 'Now l'm a very big tall guy, 6'4' 295lbs, I'm built like SpongeBob,' he said, according to documents. 'So if you ever had a fantasy about … SpongeBob, that's me'. Raber stopped at a nearby bar and had a beer, then parked at the Village Pantry, the statement read. Police pulled in right after and arrested him, according to the detective. He was booked into the Randolph County Jail, records show. Randolph County is a roughly 80-mile drive northeast from Indianapolis.
