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Alford Lewis and Kingston Miker, teenagers from Harris County, Texas, are being charged with assaulting two joggers for a TikTok prank video. 19-year-old Lewis was arrested after the County Sheriff's office was made aware of a disturbing video showing him sucker-punching unsuspected victims walking on a trail in Wortham Park in Houston on October 26.
Footage of the assault made its way onto a neighborhood watch app, Nextdoor which helped law enforcement track the teenager. The clip shows a man being struck in the head as a small black object is seen flying away before he turns around shocked.
Trigger Warning: This article contains media showing a physical assault. Viewer discretion is advised.
The video sparked outrage amongst citizens who wanted the unidentified suspect apprehended.
Alford Lewis admits to punching the victim for clout, claims "he made a mistake"
As per the Harris County Sheriff's Office, a man who claimed to be the victim told them he was walking on the trails when a man, later identified as Alford Lewis, approached him from behind and punched him in the face. He added that a second man was filming the incident on his phone, while Louis, laughed in the background.
When the victim confronted Lewis, about the video, both he and the person recording, who many allege is Kingston Miker, continued to laugh. What's more, the victim felt that Alford was also carrying a gun underneath his red hoodie and attempted to de-escalate the situation. He told Lewis he "forgave him," and the two teenagers ran away from the scene.
In a separate incident, Alford Lewis allegedly used a gun to threaten the victim into giving up his iPhone 14. When the victim refused, the teen physically assaulted him to rob him of this phone, valued at $1000.
As the video went viral, cops were able to locate the teen. When confronted outside his home, not too far from Wortham Park, Lewis admitted to randomly punching strangers in parks to gain attention on social media.
"You know, I just made a mistake and everybody makes mistakes..." pleaded the youngster.
However, Alford Lewis added that it was all just a prank, he was not trying to hurt anybody. He added that he was hanging out with his friend and they were trying to make a TikTok video. He even stated that none of the victims actually fought back and that the video highlights only the "bad part" and not what happened after.
"What people don’t see is that I shook his hand after and gave the man a hug."
He admitted it was done to gain attention on social media and added that his parents were disappointed by his actions.
During his court appearance on Monday, the prosecutor demanded Lewis' bond be set to $75,000 for one charge. But the judge set a bond of $10,000 for both charges and ordered that Alford Lewis wear an ankle monitor.
According to court documents, the 19-year-old was charged with bodily injury and aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon stemming from two separate incidents.
Kingston Miker, who is facing the same charges, had not been arrested at the time of writing this article. Miker told ABC13 that he was not the one recording, but posted the video as he had a larger following.
