Risky teen games bring police crackdown
Students kidnap other teens and streak naked through restaurants: police
Last Updated: Wednesday, November 4, 2009 | 2:16 PM ET
CBC News
Police in Ottawa's west end are cracking down on dangerous new night games being played by teenagers who win points by robbing or kidnapping other teens, or streaking naked through restaurants.
Until recently, police have issued warnings to teenagers caught taking part in a sort of scavenger hunt referred to as car rallies. But officers say they plan to start laying charges.
The games have been ongoing for a while and generally involve senior high school students, with younger teens as their victims, police said Tuesday.
The teens meet in parking lots and get instructions to perform various stunts to gain points.
Police said recently the stunts have become more dangerous, even criminal.
A junior student at A.Y. Jackson Secondary School told CBC News he was kidnapped for several hours by a group of older students.
"You kidnap the Grade 9, and to get more points you have to make him do stuff," he said.
He said they forced him to swim in the frigid Ottawa River. Then they filmed another student running nude through a fast food restaurant. But, he said, it's all in good fun.
"It's just like funny stuff, stuff that would make people laugh," he said.
But the police aren't laughing.
"The organizers are encouraging them to steal things, to commit acts of indecency, nudity, and in some cases some downright dangerous acts," said Sgt. Patricia Ferguson.
In the past couple of months, police have arrested several teens for their involvement in these rallies.
And they even confiscated a list of tasks, Ferguson said.
The tasks on the list included stripping in public, chugging alcohol, and performing sexual acts.
In one case, police found a 16-year-old girl naked directing traffic at a Kanata intersection, Ferguson said.
"Some of the behaviours … are alarming. And I think if parents were aware of some of stuff that's [going] on here, they would be shocked," she said.
"A lot of alcohol's involved with it," said Jess Wooley, who recently graduated from high school.
He said the car rallies are nothing new, but things now are going too far.
"Before it was like, roll down a hill naked. Now it's like, way, way worse. I can't really go into detail about it … but it's a lot more sexual," he said.
