Courtesy of Sandra Thompson
A car crashed through a cinder block wall and into the empty pool of a Las Vegas home this week. A series of videos posted on social media show viewers how to steal certain models of Kia and Hyundai vehicles.
Saturday, April 29, 2023 | 2 am
Images of a wrecked Kia resting face first in a Las Vegas pool have circulated on social media this week as thefts of Kias and Hyundais continue to skyrocket in the Valley.
Thefts of both makes of vehicles are up more than 500% this year, with about 1,350 stolen in the first three months, Metro Police data show. That compares with 204 Kias and Hyundais stolen between January 1 and March 31 last year.
Officials say the national spike in thefts, which has led some insurance companies not to cover the vehicles, follows a series of TikTok videos detailing how to steal the vehicles. The videos give simple steps on how to insert a USB cable into a port after removing some parts from the steering wheel column.
Sandra Thompson was at school when a neighbor contacted her to say a car plowed through a concrete wall and landed in her father’s swimming pool.
“The neighbor heard it and came over,” Thompson said. “He saw the cinder blocks and the boys had already come out and were standing on the corner, but before he knew it was the drivers, they were gone.”
Thompson said it is likely that one or both of the male occupants of the vehicle were injured, as blood was left at the scene.
“It looks like one of them hit the windshield,” Thompson said.
There was also a lot of property damage, he said. Oil from the car seeped into the pool, which was drained of water. The house also has cracks in one of the exterior walls.
The Kia isn’t the only stolen vehicle to hit Las Vegas social media groups this week. An image of a Hyundai sitting on cinder blocks also received some attention.
Metro Police held a public meeting this month at the Windmill Library, where detectives spoke about the thefts and handed out steering wheel locks to Kia and Hyundai owners.
Models at risk of theft include Kias and Hyundais from 2011 to 2021 that require a key to start the vehicle. Push start vehicles are not included.
The models were manufactured without an ignition immobilizer, a safety device that requires the correct key to start an engine.
The problem is not limited to the Las Vegas area.
In the first three weeks of January, Kias and Hyundais accounted for 44% of all car thefts in Washington, D.C. In Buffalo, New York, 400 Kias and Hyundais were stolen in 2022 and 350 were stolen in the first two months of 2023 .
Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford joined 22 other attorneys general in signing a letter on March 20 asking Kia and Hyundai to speed up software updates and provide free fallback protection to vehicle owners.
Thefts carry more risk than just property damage, the letter says. He says a teenager has been killed fleeing police in Milwaukee, and in Washington state four teenagers died after crashing a stolen vehicle. Stolen vehicles have also been used to commit other crimes such as theft and homicide.
“Your companies decided not to include anti-theft immobilizers as standard equipment on many of your vehicle models sold in the United States during a period when all other manufacturers did, and although these vehicles are equipped with immobilizers when sold in the United States. Canada and Europe,” the letter said. “These highly effective immobilizers were standard equipment on 62% of other manufacturers’ car models in 2000, and by 2015 they were standard on 96% of other manufacturers’ vehicles. However, in that same year, only 26% of Hyundai and Kia models came equipped with an immobilizer as standard equipment.”
Hyundai and Kia have begun rolling out anti-theft software updates for certain models with plans to offer options for all at-risk models. Vehicle owners will also receive a window sticker notifying them that the vehicle has been upgraded with anti-theft protection.
Adam Soboleski’s Kia Optima was stolen March 6 in North Las Vegas. Metro Police found her within a couple of days, but she was without a vehicle for several weeks as the dealership replaced the stolen parts.
As of Thursday, he was reunited with his vehicle. He said the dealership added an immobilizer so his car can’t be stolen again as easily.
