TOWSON, Md. — When Amy Ortega’s Kia Sportage disappeared in Aberdeen, she didn’t know it until she received a call from police.
“I told them, ‘No. I don’t know where my car is,’” said Ortega, “That’s when they informed me that it had been involved in a high-speed chase in Baltimore County.”
The prevalence of thefts of both Kias and Hyundais is taxing the Baltimore Regional Auto Theft Task Force.
“We’re seeing a lot of juveniles and a lot of repeat offenders with juveniles,” said Det. Sgt. Steven Sunderland, “We’ve locked up people twice for two different cars within a span of 12 hours.”
Just last week, officers arrested a 15-year-old for the sixth time in the last three months.
“We arrest them. We turn them over to juvenile authority and the courts and we go on about our business,” said Sunderland, “I can’t be concerned about what… I don’t have any control over what the courts do.”
Baltimore County Police say year-to-date, the theft of Hyundais thus far is up 933 percent over this time last year, and Kias are up 433 percent.
That’s a combined 250 vehicles between the two in just over three months time prompting detectives to appeal to owners to help protect their own vehicles from theft.
“This is a common steering wheel lock,” said Sunderland as he displayed how to attach the device to a steering wheel, “You can buy them at automotive stores, and it literally just fits on there, you turn it and it’s good.”
Better than suffering the broken windows, the dismantled steering columns and worse when thieves make off with your car.
