Chubbuck police surprise boy in viral Christmas TikTok video with over 23 million views
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CHUBBUCK — A video of Chubbuck police officers who captured two Christmas intruders at 5-year-old River Elquezabal’s house on Wednesday hit 23.4 million views on TikTok.
“OOOH, it’s the cops!” the kindergartener yells out, as he opens the door and sees Sergeant Tyler Hoffa and Officer Derek Sant standing outside.
The officers say they have apprehended two suspicious people trying to break into the boy’s home.
River’s eyes grow wide, and he breathes nervously.
“We’ve got them in the back of our car, and they’re saying they know you,” Hoffa says. “… Could you come help me see if you actually know who they are?”
“Um no,” River responds, running back inside the house. “No, no, no, NOOO!”
“He actually thought that we were taking him to the bad guy,” his mother Skylar Elquezabal said in an interview with EastIdahoNews.com.
Finally, River agrees to go outside, held in his dad Brock Elquezabal’s arms, while his mom captures the experience on her camera.
“Well, why are the sheriffs here?” he asks, before inquiring, “Why are they in the car?”
“They were caught on the back side of the fence here,” Hoffa replies, before opening the back door of the police car to reveal the two intruders.
After a small pause, River recognizes the culprits instantly.
“Jingles!” he yells. “Jingles the elf!”
Two elves — Jingles for River and Sprinkles for his 18-month sister Mikia — were side-by-side in the back of the cruiser.
“So you don’t want me to take him to jail?” Hoffa asks. “He’s good to stay here?”
“Yeah,” River responds.
An ‘Elf on the Shelf’ hit
The Elquezabal family recently moved to Chubbuck from Pocatello, where they’d started the “Elf on the Shelf” tradition last year.
“He was really surprised that Jingles and the new elf for his sister had found out where they live now,” Hoffa said.
When he grows up, River wants to be a “police officer and a fireman and a doctor,” his mom stated.
“(Their visit) meant the world,” Skylar said. “He calls Officer Hoffa, ‘Officer Papa,’ because he can’t say it.”
The popular “Elf on the Shelf” trend started in 2005, where children search and discover a magical elf in different spots around their homes every day.
“I see all these parents go big, like these huge reveals, and just obnoxious stuff with the elf, and I thought, ‘I want to be that Mom,’” Skylar said.
She first contacted the Pocatello Police Department to see if they would deliver “Jingles the Elf” in a patrol car, but they declined. So she reached out to the Chubbuck Police Department.
Skylar asked for Officer Hoffa, a D.A.R.E. officer they’d met months ago at Ellis Elementary’s Drug Abuse Resistance Education graduation ceremony.
“He was really shy, but (his mom) said that he loves police officers and … mentioned that he wants to be a police officer,” Hoffa said.
The D.A.R.E. officer offered to give them a tour of the Chubbuck Police Department facility.
“He got to dust for fingerprints, the evidence crew, he got a goodie bag, he got some stickers and he just had a good old time,” Hoffa said.
Hoffa also sent him a note to encourage him if he decides to be a cop in the future.
“That’s a big goal for a five-year-old to have, but I believe you have what it takes,” the officer wrote. “Always remember to be kind and treat everyone with respect, always do your best at school, do all your chores at home, stand up for what you believe in and most of all, do the right thing when nobody is looking.”
“The letter just reminded him to be a good person, so that … when he comes and applies to be a police officer one day, we can think about giving him a job,” Hoffa said.
So when the opportunity came to deliver Jingles and Sprinkles, the two policemen jumped at the chance.
“This literally, was six minutes out of my 12-hour shift,” Hoffa said. “… I didn’t even know anything about Elf on the Shelf before this.”
The officers didn’t realize the encounter was filmed, and the next day Hoffa woke up to messages that the delivery was exploding on TikTok.
“It’s great to see officers and anyone in the community, taking time out of their job to spread the holiday cheer … and know that they are there to help,” Skylar said.
After two years as a D.A.R.E. officer, Hoffa said it’s important people see a softer side of police work.
“It’s not always high-speed chases and arrests. Sometimes it can be magic like this,” Hoffa said.
Chubbuck Police Chief Nick Sasser is surprised by the minute-long video’s massive reach.
“Making those relationships with our community are important, because later on down the road, they could end up helping us solve a really tough situation,” Sasser said. “… We’re just people like everybody else.”
You can see additional TikTok videos of River and Jingle the Elf here.
When it comes to Christmas, it’s worth dreaming big, said Skylar.
“Go big for your kids, as much as you can. Not necessarily gift-wise, but just bringing the Christmas spirit is huge for these little kids,” Skylar said. “My son is smiling ear-to-ear — this is going to be a core memory.”
