Covington resident Brandon Wheeler was headed out the door of his Austinburg home last Friday morning to make an appointment.
Wheeler reached into his pocket, pulled out his key fob for his Kia Soul and pressed the unlock door button, but there was no ‘click’ noise.
“I clicked the button on my remote to unlock my car and I didn’t hear the ‘click’ which means it was already unlocked,” Wheeler said.
Upon entering his vehicle, Wheeler noticed the top of his steering column was pried off. The night before, vandals attempted to break off the car’s windshield wiper switch in order to get to the back of the ignition switch.
Wheeler’s Kia Soul fell victim to a viral TikTok and YouTube trend, one that encourages theft and vandalism of Kia models newer than 2011, and Hyundai models newer than 2015. Individuals on the social media platforms post videos showing viewers how to break into, and start these car models without the use of a key.
“I’m annoyed, and it was almost insulting that they then failed to actually steal it,” Wheeler said.
Reports of such break-ins have been published in media outlets across the country.
And now, the trend is here.
“I don’t know a lot about it, but I know that we have seen and heard that a lot lately about Kias and Hyundais,” Covington Police Lt. Col. Justin Wietholter said.
Wheeler told LINK nky he became aware of the trend after reading a news article online.
“Teenagers are learning how to steal and break into and Hyundais and Kias. I always leave my car locked and I guess I just didn’t that night because they didn’t break the window or anything. They just walk around and try doors,” Wheeler said.
Some of the most famous instigators of this trend are a group nicknamed the ‘Kia boys’ who committed a series of car thefts in Milwaukee last year.
“I know there have been reports all over, not just Covington, but there have been reports all over about this specific trend,” Wietholter said.
Both Kia Corporation and Hyundai Motor Company are aware of the rise in thefts among their vehicles.
