‘This is not a game!’ Why the ‘Orbeez Challenge’ has Florida police making arrests
TikTok has led to the resurgence of pop culture items, like the viral revival of Demi Lovato’s single “Cool for the Summer.”
But what’s not cool this spring, according to law enforcement officials in Florida and several states is some TikTok-fueled challenges that are getting some people hurt.
Here are some recent incidents in the Sunshine State related to the “Orbeez Challenge,” in which people are shooting gelatinous beads out of toy guns at unsuspecting people.
A 16-year-old boy faces two misdemeanor charges of simple battery after police in Ocala said he acted as the getaway driver for two “Orbeez Challenge” attacks in the Central Florida city, Click
Orlando reported this week.
According to Ocala police, the teen was the getaway driver during two separate incidents as someone in his group shot the toy gun that was filled with Orbeez polymer beads at unsuspecting people. The first incident happened outside a YMCA where a group — police did not say how many were involved — walked up to a person and shot multiple gel beads into the victim’s face and arm and then ran off, got into the car and drove off.
The same car then pulled up to a Taco Bell drive-thru window, where another unsuspecting victim was shot in the chest. This caused “the victim much distress because she thought she was shot with an actual gun at first,” Ocala police said.
Video surveillance was used to identify the car and its driver and the teen was arrested but was not cooperating with police in naming the people in his group, according to the department.
“This is not a game!” Ocala police posted on Facebook, warning that arrests will be made. “Parents, please talk to your children about the dangers of this type of activity.”
Ocala police also noted that sometimes even the toy guns and the beads inside can be such a desirous attraction they inspire other crimes.
In another recent case in Ocala, two teens were arrested and face felony robbery charges for accosting two kids who were playing with the toy guns.
According to Ocala police, two teens were driving when they saw two kids outside their home playing with the toys. The teens reportedly got out of their car, ran at the kids, tackled them, then tried to pry the guns from their hands.
“The kids held on but one teen was able to remove and take a magazine from the toy gun and then ran off.”
On March 27, Clearwater police officers arrested a 19-year-old from Citrus County on a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge for “discharging Orbeez” out of a toy gun. The teen said he was driving with friends when someone on the street shouted something “derogatory” at him, WESH2 reported.
“It’s a toy gun. You can buy it at 12 years old — it’s a toy,” he reportedly told WLFA News Channel 8. The teen was released on his own recognizance, according to court records. Clearwater police were not swayed by his argument, though.
“If you engage in this type of dangerous behavior, you deserve to go to jail. And that’s what happened in this case,” Clearwater police spokesman Rob Shaw told WFLA.
On March 23, a 17-yearold New Smyrna Beach High School student was charged with felony battery on a school employee after New Smyrna Beach deputies said he shot a school employee multiple times in the face with an Orbeez gun. One of the beads lodged in her nose. She was able to blow it out and was otherwise not injured, Click Orlando reported.
Earlier this month law enforcement agencies sent warnings concerning the Orbeez Challenge, a social media-fueled trend sparked on TikTok that involves shooting people with toy guns filled with Orbeez, the Miami Herald reported.
Orbeez are colored polymer beads that expand when wet. The gelatinous beads are fed into modified water or BB guns and blasted at unsuspecting people and can cause injury.
Miami Herald staff writer Madeleine Marr contributed to this report.