TikTok stunt fail leads to pair of teens facing charges, the NYPD says

Two teenagers face criminal charges in connection with a stunt-gone-wrong in which a 16-year-old Lynbrook boy became trapped for several hours inside a pillar of the 59th Street Bridge.

On Thursday, the NYPD arrested and charged a 14-year-old male with criminal trespass and reckless endangerment for his alleged role in the Monday incident the authorities previously described as a social media stunt, a department spokesperson said. A day before, the police took a 15-year-old boy into custody on a related criminal trespass charge, according to the NYPD.

The identities of the two teens charged, as well as that of the boy who became trapped, were not released by the NYPD.

Using ropes and specialty equipment, 75 FDNY members rescued the boy after he fell 50 feet down the inside of one of the bridge’s buttresses, Newsday previously reported. He was hospitalized for treatment of hypothermia, Lynbrook Police Chief Brian Paladino previously told Newsday.

The authorities first learned of the incident about 5:15 p.m. Monday when an anonymous caller said the teen might be hurt, but that his location was unknown, Paladino said. Police then found the teenager’s friend who had allegedly recorded the stunt, but left the bridge without calling the authorities.

Police drove the friend and his father to the bridge to point out the pillar in which the teen was trapped, Paladino said. The structure, formally known as the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge, connects Manhattan and Queens.

Video of the stunt was posted on TikTok, Instagram, or both, according to a previous Newsday story, which also reported that the recording does not include the fall but shows someone in a hole making noises. 

An NYPD spokesperson declined to confirm whether they reside in Nassau County or New York City as they are minors. Both were apprehended within the department’s 19th Precinct, which covers the Upper East Side.