Wine Bottle-Throwing Man Sought By Police After 'Ding Dong Ditch'

LAKE FOREST, IL — Police asked the public for help identifying a suspect who smashed a window of a home with a wine bottle Friday night in Lake Forest after ringing the doorbell and running away.

Security video shows the unidentified young man in khaki shorts and a light blue T-shirt walk up to a house in the 300 block of South Basswood Road shortly before 10 p.m.

Police said he and several other unidentified men or boys were ringing doorbells and running away from other homes that night.

The practice is known as a "ding dong ditch" or "doorbell ditch" prank.

Police said the homeowner confronted the man. On the video, a resident can be heard telling the man there is a baby sleeping in the home.

The man soon returned and threw a wine bottle through a large window on the first floor of home, police said.

A separate doorbell video posted to social media appears to show the same man who rang the doorbell throwing an object toward the house, followed by the sound of glass smashing.

Lake Forest police asked anyone who recognizes the man to contact Officer Ashley Molinari by phone at 847-810-3833 or via email.

Authorities in Southern California say a doorbell ditch prank turned deadly last year. A 43-year-old man is awaiting trial on murder charges after he allegedly chased a car full of teenagers who rang his doorbell and rammed into it, killing three of them