Police in Idaho surprise a boy with a viral Christmas TikTok video with over 23 million views

CHUBBUCK, Idaho — A video of Chubbuck police officers arresting two Christmas intruders at 5-year-old River Elquezabal’s home last week reached 23.4 million views on TikTok.

“Oooh, it’s the cops!” screams the kindergartener in the TikTok video when he opens the door and sees Sgt. Tyler Hoffa and Officer Derek Sant stand outside.

Officers told River that they had arrested two suspicious people who were trying to break into the boy’s home.

River’s eyes widened and he breathed nervously.

“We have them in the back of our car and they say they know you,” Hoffa said. “Could you come and help me find out if you actually know who they are?”

“Um, no,” River replied, running back into the house. “No no no!”

“He actually thought we were making him the bad guy,” his mother, Skylar Elquezabal, said in an interview with EastIdahoNews.com.

Finally, River agreed to go outside in the arms of his father, Brock Elquezabal, while his mother captured the experience on her camera.

“Well, why are the sheriffs here?” he asks before asking, “Why are they in the car?”

“They got caught here at the back of the fence,” Hoffa replied before opening the back door of the police car to reveal the two intruders.

After a short pause, River immediately recognizes the perpetrators.

“Jingles!” he shouts. “Jingles the Elf!”

Two elves — Jingles for River and Sprinkles for his 18-month-old sister Mikia Elquezabal — sat side by side in the back of the patrol car.

“So you don’t want me to take him to prison?” Hoffa asks. “Is he okay staying here?”

“Yes,” River replies.

An “Elf on the Shelf” hit

The Elquezabal family recently moved to Chubbuck from Pocatello, Idaho, where the family started the Elf on the Shelf tradition last year.

“He was really surprised that Jingles and his sister’s new elf had found out where they lived now,” Hoffa said.

When he grows up, River wants to be “a police officer, a firefighter and a doctor,” his mother said.

“(Her visit) meant the world,” Skylar Elquezabal said. “He calls Officer Hoffa ‘Officer Papa’ because he can’t say it.”

The popular “Elf on the Shelf” trend began in 2005, where children search for and discover a magical elf in different locations around their home every day.

“I see all these parents making it big, like these huge reveals and just disgusting elf stuff, and I thought, ‘I want to be that mom,'” Elquezabal said.

She initially contacted the Pocatello Police Department to see if she would deliver “Jingles the Elf” in a patrol car, but they declined. So she contacted Chubbuck police.

Skylar asked about Officer Hoffa, a substance abuse resistance education officer who they had met months ago at Ellis Elementary’s DARE graduation ceremony.

“He was really shy, but (his mother) said he loves police officers and … mentioned he wanted to be a police officer,” Hoffa said.

The DARE officer offered to give them a tour of the Chubbuck Police Department facility.

“He had to search for fingerprints, the evidence team, he got a gift bag, he got some stickers and he just had a good old time,” Hoffa said.

Hoffa also sent him a message to encourage him if he decides to become a police officer in the future.

“This is a tall order for a 5-year-old, 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 in school, do all your work at home, stand up for what you believe in, and most importantly, do this Right ones when no one is watching.”

“The letter just reminded him to be a good person so that one day when he comes and applies to be a police officer, we can think about giving him a job,” Hoffa said.

When the opportunity to hand out jingles and sprinkles arose, the two police officers jumped at the chance.

“That was literally six minutes of my 12-hour shift,” Hoffa said. “I didn’t even know anything about Elf on the Shelf before.”

Officers didn’t know the encounter had been filmed, and the next day Hoffa woke up to news that delivery was blowing up on TikTok.

“It’s great to see officers and everyone else in the community taking the time to spread holiday cheer … and to know they are there to help,” Elquezabal said.

After two years as a DARE officer, Hoffa said it’s important for people to see a softer side of police work.

“It’s not always high-speed chases and arrests. Sometimes it can be so magical,” Hoffa said.

Chubbuck Police Chief Nick Sasser is surprised by the enormous reach of the minute-long video.

“Building these relationships with our community is important because down the road they could help us resolve a really difficult situation,” Sasser said. “We are just people like everyone else.”

You can see more videos from River and Jingle the Elf on Tiktok.

“When it comes to Christmas, it pays to dream big,” Elquezabal said.

“Do as much as you can for your children. Not necessarily in terms of gifts, but just spreading the Christmas cheer is hugely important to these young children,” Elquezabal said. “My son is smiling from ear to ear – that will remain a memorable memory.”