A new mom was hospitalized after finding herself the victim of a social media stunt gone horribly wrong – where people put buckets on the heads of complete strangers just to film their reactions.
The increasingly popular fad – seen widely on platforms like TikTok – saw a simple shopping trip to Target for baby supplies Sunday turn into a life-or-death scare, and sent unwilling participant Lana Clay-Monaghan to a Southern California hospital.
Recounting the ordeal in a video interview Monday, Clay-Monaghan – a 30-year cancer survivor who recently developed epilepsy – described how she was caught off guard by the four teen boys responsible for the prank, who are still at large.
She says the assault deprived her of air and ultimately caused her to faint and be rushed to UC Irvine Medical Center. She further claims the incident left her with physical and psychological damage, as well as lingering neurological side effects.
Police in the small SoCal city are now treating the altercation as an assault – and are reviewing surveillance video from the Tustin Target to identify the four young men, who fled the store as their prank unraveled before them.
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Recounting the ordeal in a video interview Monday, Lana Clay-Monaghan – a 30-year cancer survivor who recently developed epilepsy – described how she was caught off guard by the four teen boys responsible for the prank, who are still at large
Cops investigating the incident believe the four at-large perpetrators – all boys in their teens – had been taking part in a fad where people put buckets on the heads of strangers to film their reactions. The pranks are often pulled on unsuspecting shoppers while their backs are turned
Cops add they believe the stunt was the result of the so-called ‘stranger bucket challenge,’ an internet craze that teenagers across the country have largely embraced – albeit to mixed reception, often from those being pranked.
‘I was looking at some baby soap,’ Clay-Monaghan told local outlet KTLA. ‘I leaned down and my whole world changed.’
She proceeded to recall how she lost her breath and sense of equilibrium, before realizing that a generic mop bucket being sold in the store had been placed on her head.
‘Everything went quiet, dark, and there was really no air,’ she said, adding in another interview to KCBS: ‘I started freaking out. I was screaming.’
After she pulled the bucket off her head, she recalled how she the four young boys thought to be teenagers laughing and filming her – before suddenly passing out.
‘I flipped off what was put over me, around my neck, and I turned around and looked over my left shoulder,’ she told KTLA, while revealing that she was pressing charges over the incident.
‘To my dismay, it was a group of individuals who were filming me, seemingly for some sort of prank or maybe for something like TikTok.’
After she passed out, she said she awoke to paramedics carting her to the nearby hospital, where she was released later that day.
A new mom to two twin boys, Clay-Monaghan was hospitalized after the incident, which she says left her struggling for air and saw her faint inside the Tustin Target
Seen here during her hospital stay, Clay-Monaghan – who is 30 years leukemia free – insists that she is still recovering and suffered neurological damage as a result of the incident, and wants the boys to face the full wrath of the law
Speaking to the press in a slew of interviews the next day, she insists that she is still recovering and suffered neurological damage as a result of the incident.
The extent of those supposed injuries remains unknown – but Lieutenant Ryan Co of the Tustin Police Department says his department is treating the altercation as an assault, and are looking for the four youngsters responsible.
In a news release, he added that his department – which oversees crime in the city of some 80,000 roughly 30 miles from LA – believe the stunt was related to the social media fad, which are often pulled on unsuspecting shoppers while their backs are turned.
‘Obviously, in this case, it can have some pretty bad consequences, but at the end of the day, it’s a crime,’ said Co of how his men are treating the investigation, and how they plan to hit the teens with charges that could be treated as either a misdemeanor or felony.
‘It’s an assault and battery on another person, and we’re going to investigate it that way,’ the lieutenant said, adding that the department is currently reviewing surveillance footage recorded by the store showing the incident.
Police said they have not come across any social media posts of the failed prank, but add that they are currently collecting statements from witnesses who may have seen the stunt play out.
The increasingly popular fad – seen widely on platforms like TikTok – has been taken up by social media users across the country, and contributed to the mom’s health scare, cops said
That said, it is more than likely the youngsters, if found, will be subject to no more than a slap on the wrist – given their prospective ages and the nature of the incident.
In the state of California, assaults can be classified as either a felony or a misdemeanor – something decided on based on factors such as whether the defendant used a weapon, and the amount of force the defendant used.
In this particular case, neither of those determining factors appear relevant – though, for Clay-Monaghan, the ordeal is anything but a joke.
‘I keep looking over my shoulder. I’m a nervous wreck,’ she told KTLA of the lasting emotional damage left by the stunt.
‘I cannot believe that in my community, you could go to Target, be in Target maybe a mere 10 to 15 minutes and someone would find it amusing to come and strategically find a female by herself in the baby aisle and think this would be funny or laughable for likes.’
She added that she plans to press charges if the boys are apprehended, and that the group should face the full wrath of the city’s judicial system.
‘This needs to be an example that families can talk about now and say, ‘Look, you see this on social media, it’s not appropriate to do that,’ and again, those individuals need to come forward and be held accountable,’ she said.
The Tustin Police Department say they are still working to find the underage suspects. Their investigation is ongoing.
