Atlanta Police are handing out anti-theft steering wheel locks to owners of two major vehicle brands whose cars are in an unwanted spotlight.
Since a resurfaced social media tutorial revealed an easier way to steal Hyundais and Kias, they’ve become 60% of Atlanta’s stolen vehicles this year, says Police Captain Ralph Woolfolk.
“That’s the fight that we see, against social media,” he says.
Videos talking about the hack tutorial have racked up more than 25 million views on TikTok.
He notes the overall number of stolen autos has skyrocketed some 800%.
“We saw 52 exactly year to date last year. We’ve seen 511 this year,” Woolfolk said on April 5.
Police say juveniles are driving the thefts, sometimes for crime, sometimes just for kicks. Some thefts overlap with gang-related crimes.
“There’s a percentage of them that are showing up at other crime scenes,” says Woolfolk. “There are some of them that have shown up at shootings and aggravated assaults. There’s some that are just for a joyride.”
Atlanta Police Major Reginald Moorman says while they arrest the young suspects, “some of them look at it like it’s a game. But it’s not a game.” Moorman notes how having a car stolen disrupts the lives of people on many levels from just getting around to insurance rates going up.
The APD Zone 4 Commander, Major Antonio Clay, was helping hand out steering wheel-locking clubs to Kia and Hyundai owners Wednesday at a shopping plaza at the intersection of MLK and Fairburn.
“One of the vehicles’ back window was busted out. It still had glass on the seat,” said Clay. He says anyone who couldn’t get there Wednesday to e-mail him at abclay@atlantaga.gov to ask for one and pick it up at Zone 4.
“The only requirements are they own a Kia or Hyundai and live in the City of Atlanta,” he said.
Woolfolk says the Atlanta mayor’s office has launched so many things designed to help youth, there’s no excuse for them to be in the streets stealing cars. As we head into spring break and the second quarter, he warns, officers have a no-tolerance policy in place.
“We’ve done our efforts in preventative and reaching out and trying to get you turned in the right direction. If you’re committing these types of crimes, you will go to jail,” says Cpt. Woolfolk.
Meanwhile, the automakers are rolling out a software patch for millions of vehicle owners which they believe will block the thieves.