CINCINNATI — There's been a rise in car thefts in the Forest Park area, and the thieves are targeting certain types of cars, Forest Park police said.
"Over the last week, we've had six confirmed auto thefts of Kia or Hyundai products,” Lieutenant Adam Pape said. "It's something with how they were manufactured that allows this occurs.”
Those cars include Kia model cars newer than 2011 and Hyundai model cars newer than 2015.
Police say thieves are ripping control panels right out of those cars and using tools to get it started, and most victims have reported that their doors were locked and no keys were in sight when their cars were stolen.
Pape said that, so far, teenagers have been tied to the thefts in Forest Park.
“They’re joy riding,” Pape said. “They’re going a couple blocks and dumping the cars. Five out of six have been damaged in one way or another.”
Forest Park police said two juveniles have already been arrested for one of the car thefts, and they’re still searching for suspects related to the other cases.
The thefts from teenagers are part of nationwide trend where people are learning how to break in through social media videos.
"It's shocking and I don't know why anyone would want to put that information out there to hurt other people," Logan Jones said.
Jones car was recently stolen from his apartment in Forest Park. It’s not one of the models police are alerting people of, but Jones was still targeted. Jones said he walked outside last week, and his Mazda was missing.
Jones says he accidentally left his key FOB inside his fiance's car, which he was parked next to. He says thieves went inside of her car and stole some items, including his key FOB.
"Why would someone do this to someone else? It just doesn't make any sense,” Jones said. “No one thinks it can happen to them. I certainly didn’t.”
Jones' car is a 2018 silver Mazda CX-5, with license plate JIM1268. If you know anything contact Forest Park police.
Meanwhile, Pape said drivers should be taking action to protect themselves from auto theft.
"It involves being proactive," Pape said. "Possibly getting an alarm from your car, possibly getting a steering wheel lock like the club from years ago. They still make those. Or similar products to those. That will deter in this instance."
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