It was imagined to be a social media prank, police mentioned, however a Tustin mom of twins handed out and was hospitalized after she was the unwitting goal of the stunt.
“This isn’t OK,” mentioned Lana Clay-Monaghan, 35, who mentioned she was purchasing at Goal in Tustin by herself when somebody put a bucket over her head. “I used to be fearful for my life, however I might hear laughing behind me.”
The incident occurred Sunday at about 2:45 p.m. at a Goal retailer at 2300 Park Ave., in line with Tustin Police.
Clay-Monaghan mentioned she’d been on the retailer for about 10 minutes, leaning down to take a look at child wipes and bathing cleaning soap for her twins when every thing went all of the sudden darkish.
“Unexpectedly my imaginative and prescient, my listening to was obstructed,” she mentioned.
She thought she was alone within the aisle, she mentioned, so the sensation of one thing being positioned over her head frightened her. She screamed and flailed her arms, tossing the item off her head, she mentioned.
“I turned to my left and once I rotated it was a bunch of males filming me,” she mentioned, noting that she distinctly seen two or 4 males pointing their telephones at her.
The stunt is a well-liked prank on social media apps like TikTok and Instagram, repeated within the aisles of retail shops. A bucket or basket is positioned over the pinnacle of an unsuspecting shopper, whereas their response is recorded and posted on-line. At instances, the prankster themselves additionally locations an object over their very own head on the identical time, pretending to be a sufferer of the prank as properly.
However on Sunday afternoon, Clay-Monaghan mentioned the shock and worry triggered her to lose consciousness, black out and fall to the ground.
Lana Clay-Monaghan and her husband, Mark Monaghan, and 8-month-old twins, Joey and Jay.
(Courtesy of Lana Clay-Monaghan)
“I began to say, ‘Assist me,’ once I fell to the bottom,” she mentioned. “My final reminiscence is folks laughing at me.”
The Tustin mom of 8-month-old twins mentioned she was taken to a hospital the place she was instructed she suffered an “acute coronary heart concern” that triggered her to move out.
She was launched later that day, and filed a police report.
Tustin Police in a press release mentioned 4 male juveniles had been seen grabbing a bucket they put over Clay-Monaghan’s head.
“A number of seconds later the juveniles are seen fleeing the shop,” the assertion learn.
On Tuesday, a spokesperson for the division mentioned the people haven’t been recognized.
Clay-Monaghan mentioned she desires the folks behind the incident to be held accountable.
“We crossed a line,” she mentioned.
She was upset that she was focused within the stunt, however mentioned she was actually shocked understanding that as a substitute of getting assist when she handed out, the culprits ran.
“What a failure to our kids to not educate them that the second you do one thing unsuitable, you’ve integrity and also you go get assist,” she mentioned.
