A South Florida firefighter is accused of chasing down four teens who ding-dong-ditched at his family’s Lighthouse Point home and hitting them with a bat, police said.
Alex Michael Lutz, 31, a Highland Beach Fire Rescue firefighter, faces six charges, some felonies, including aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill and criminal mischief of $200 or less, according to an arrest warrant. He turned himself in Monday at the Lighthouse Point Police Department.
Ding-dong ditching is a prank where someone rings a doorbell or knocks on someone’s door and runs away before the resident opens the door. There have been several recent cases both in South Florida and throughout the country in which ding-dong ditchers were held at gunpoint, shot or killed.
Lutz’s father called police to report the teens, and as officers were on the way to that address, someone reported witnessing a man with a bat hitting teenagers in a golf cart near the 2000 block of Northeast 45th Street, according to the warrant and incident reports.
Home surveillance video provided to the South Florida Sun Sentinel by Lighthouse Point Police showed a golf cart turning onto a residential street as the teens shrieked with Lutz sprinting after them. Lutz caught up to the golf cart, bat in hand, just after they turned onto the street in the camera’s view.
Lutz is seen in the video repeatedly swinging the bat over his head into the golf cart as the teens continued to scream.
“I didn’t do anything wrong!” one of the teens could be heard saying. Lutz screamed at the group throughout the interaction and paced around their golf cart, at one point saying, “I will f—— kill you!” the video showed.
‘No such thing as a prank anymore’: In Florida, do ‘ding-dong ditches’ endanger kids?
“The victims can be heard screaming ‘ouch’ and pleading with the subject to stop, however, the subject continues striking the victims,” the arrest warrant said.
Officers who arrived at the scene saw that several of the teens had injuries including dislocations, bruises and swelling, Lighthouse Point Police said in a news release.
The teen driving the golf cart was 15 and not legally allowed to drive it, according to an incident report. None of the teens were charged in the incident. An officer noted in one report that they “were traumatized as a result of this incident and were obviously shaken up throughout the investigation” and felt it was “was more of a learning experience” than would be receiving a citation.
Lutz’s father told police two of the teens “had banged on his door so loudly that he thought it caused damage,” the warrant said. The door was not damaged, according to the warrant.
After officers spoke to the group at the scene, Lutz’s father declined to answer questions and Lutz would not exit the home, a redacted incident report said. Lutz’s father said his son had a “good job” with the fire department and “did not want to jeopardize it,” according to the incident report.
Lutz is on administrative leave with pay pending an investigation by Town of Highland Beach, Fire Chief Glenn Joseph said in a statement Wednesday.
“We were surprised to learn of this situation, and the behaviors described in the police reports do not reflect the values, professionalism, or expectations of the Highland Beach Fire Rescue Department or the Town,” Joseph’s statement said.
Lutz’s attorney contacted police on Nov. 24. The statement is redacted from the warrant provided by the police department.
Court records were not available Tuesday.
Last month, Palm Beach County prosecutors decided not to pursue charges of aggravated assault against an armed man who detained a 14-year-old boy after he and his friends allegedly ding-dong-ditched at his home near Boca Raton.
Prosecutors drop case against armed West Boca man who detained ding-dong-ditch prankster