Are cheese-throwing bandits on the loose in south Charlotte?
Nacho average prank: In a new style of teenage vandalism, cheese slices are reportedly soaring in parking lots, intersections and driveways
This article originally appeared in the Nov. 18, 2020, edition of The Charlotte Ledger, an e-newsletter with smart and original news and insights for Charlotte. We offer free and paid subscription plans. Sign up today:
Because 2020 wasn’t weird enough: Apparently, throwing slices of American cheese at cars is a new trend in vandalism, as evidenced by this Nextdoor post.
by Cristina Bolling
Three weeks ago, The Ledger brought you the strange Nextdoor tale of three teenage boys throwing cheese at a car in the Cotswold Harris Teeter parking lot, incensing the victim and sparking more than 100 (hilarious) comments on the post.
Now, following another reader tip, The Ledger has sniffed out two more cheese-hurling incidents: one in Ballantyne, and another in SouthPark. We’ve been journalists long enough to know that where there’s three of something, by golly, there’s a trend.
Oct. 1, Southampton Commons: The first incident we’re aware of happened in early October in the Southampton Commons neighborhood off Ardrey Kell Road, when the alleged victim awoke to find what appeared to be Kraft Singles stuck on the family’s car windows:
“Swiss is getting out of hand. We cheddar do something about it before it gets worse,” wrote one commenter on the Nextdoor post.
Oct. 25, Cotswold: The Cotswold incident in late October involved a teenage boy and his friends in a gold Pathfinder with a “DUKERULZ” license plate, according to a Nextdoor post.
Last weekend, SouthPark: Just last weekend there was another report, this time on SouthPark Nextdoor: Two teenagers in an Audi Q3 were “convulsive-like dancing” in their seats in the left turn lane at Colony and Sharon roads, then threw cheese at the victim’s car and sped off. The alleged victims were hotter than a jalapeño, so they chased the teens, witnessed them hurling slices at other cars, and then called 911 to report the incidents.
“I know it sounds funny but I would be upset if my teenager was driving around in what seemed to be a brand new Audi behaving like that. It could scare someone and cause an accident or they could be the victim of road rage,” the victim posted on Nextdoor.
Apparently, cheesy pranks aren’t unique to Charlotte. The phenomenon, unbelievably, seems to have begun by people throwing cheese slices at babies. Now, #cheesechallenge is a thing on TikTok (warning: audio NSFW). Most of the Charlotte incidents seem to be groups of teenagers, as opposed to a perpetrator who is working prov-alone.
For local purposes, our story seemed to have some holes, so we took the Nextdoor reports to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police officials, who said they are unaware of widespread dairy-related crime. There is no search criteria for “cheese” in the department’s database, they said.
Officers said they strongly discourage yeeting cheese at cars, but that it’s not clear how a magistrate judge would rule if an alleged cheese-thrower came before them.
There are no laws against throwing, say, water at a car. Egging is a little different, because egg can cause destruction of property, said Officer Blake Page. Stepping into a road or putting a victim at fear of assault would be punishable offenses. Throwing rocks at cars is damage to property.
Throwing cheese, however?
“It’s biodegradable, so you can’t even call it littering,” Page said.
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Executive editor: Tony Mecia; Managing editor: Cristina Bolling; Contributing editor: Tim Whitmire, CXN Advisory; Reporting intern: David Griffith