An 18-year-old was arrested at a Florida Walmart after he attempted to secretly camp out inside the store overnight as part of a viral TikTok challenge, according to cops.
Isaac Hurley, 18, idiotically gave up his location while “actively livestreaming to TikTok” inside a Walmart in Charlotte County, Florida on Tuesday night, according to a release from the local sheriff’s office.
Hurley allegedly hid in the megastore’s dog bed section, where he intended to spend the night as part of a TikTok trend, informally called the “24-hour Fort Overnight Challenge.”
As the on-the-nose name suggests, participants attempt to crash inside stores of their choosing with the proper materials to create a fort and hide out during operating and closing hours. Videos of the trend, spanning from 2023 to 2026, have accumulated upwards of 400,000 likes.
Many participants choose megastores like Walmart and Target in part because of the sheer volume of materials stocked in the center and the variety of rows to hide in.
Hurley’s attempt was a certified flop, as he entered the store around 10:15 p.m. and was in police custody by midnight, according to the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies said that they learned Hurley was “hoping to earn money based on the number of views he could get” while completing the challenge.
The wannabe influencer apparently lacked the proper foresight to bring a portable charger, and allegedly “removed an iPhone charger from its packaging” during his short squat in the store, cops said.
Charlotte County Sheriff Bill Prummell confessed he was perplexed by the seemingly endless number of trends born out of social media madness.
“I’m not sure why people buy into these social media challenges when they are clearly encouraging you to violate the law. From the ‘kicking in the front door’ challenge, to the destruction of public property thing a couple years ago, to now something as silly as this, young people, especially, are putting themselves in bad situations and paying the price for it,” Prummell said.
“Why aren’t any of these challenges aimed at making the world better? Imagine mobilizing an entire generation to do positive things – the impact that could have. Instead, we are busy arresting people for making poor choices just to get views and likes. It’s a shame.”
Hurley was charged with burglary and petit theft. He posted his $1,500 bond by Thursday.