Fed-up man who attacked boy, 12, for frightening prank on his home is ordered to self-deport to his native NEW ZEALAND

By JAMES CIRRONE, US NEWS REPORTER Published: 15:40, 29 April 2026 | Updated: 15:42, 29 April 2026 A Utah man who chased down a young boy and choked him for ding-dong ditching his house has been ordered by a judge to self-deport to his native New Zealand. Tony Bernstone has to spend the length of his four years of probation in New Zealand and cannot return to Utah during that time, KSL.com reported. His punishment stems from an incident on August 1, 2025, that involved a group of kids ringing the doorbell of his home in Salt Lake City and running away before he could come to the door, a common prank kids will sometimes pull. According to a probable cause affidavit, five friends were having a sleepover and decided to ding-dong ditch several houses. After doing this to Bernstone's house at around 9:45pm, the 59-year-old got on his bike and pedaled after the group, per the affidavit. He caught up with a 12-year-old boy who had been a part of the prank and grabbed him by his shirt. Bernstone then slapped him across the face at least three times and punched him in the stomach, police said. A witness later told police he heard Bernstone saying he was 'going to beat the s*** out of them'.  Bernstone also took a picture of himself grabbing the boy by the throat, saying it was 'to show police', according to the affidavit. On August 2, 2025, a group of five kids ding-dong ditched the Salt Lake City house (pictured) of Tony Bernstone. Bernstone rode his bike after the kids and beat up a 12-year-old boy who had been a part of the prank On April 7, Bernstone pleaded guilty to a child kidnapping charge in connection to this incident and was sentenced to five days in jail and four years of probation. During the length of his probation, he must self-deport to New Zealand (Pictured: Skyline of Auckland) After roughing the boy up, Bernstone forced him to walk with him to a nearby Maverik store so he could meet with the boy's father to discuss what happened, the affidavit said. It's not clear who called police, but a short time later, officers arrived at the store, where Bernstone said that he 'pushed the victim up against a fence and slapped his mouth a couple of times to get him to stop running away'. The affidavit described this admission as an 'excited utterance' because when police gave Bernstone a Miranda warning - a clear sign he was going to be arrested and charged - he stopped being open about what he did. During questioning, Bernstone said he had been dealing with neighborhood kids ding-dong ditching his house for several years. He acknowledged that the kids he chased down weren't the same ones who had been routinely pranking him. Bernstone was arrested the day after this incident and was charged with felony child kidnapping in the first-degree and misdemeanor child abuse. On April 7, Bernstone pleaded guilty to a reduced child kidnapping charge, with the court lowering it to a second-degree felony. The child abuse charge was also dismissed as part of the plea agreement. He was originally sentenced to 1 to 15 years in prison, but this was suspended and replaced with five days in jail and four years of probation. Per the judge's order, Bernstone must return to New Zealand within 60 days.  No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.