This highlights a disturbing, growing trend…
A police dashcam video has been making the rounds in the media lately, showing a 16-year-old in a stolen Hyundai trying to flee from police. Several officers descended on the crossover as it was parked in front of a convenience store in Whitehall, Ohio, but the driver didn’t give up easily. It doesn’t take much for someone to understand this situation could’ve turned deadly in an instant.
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In the video, the teenage driver tries fleeing as he’s boxed in by police. Lacking the wisdom to realize he’s caught, the kid tries ramming a cop car and the civilian vehicle in the spot next to him. One officer gets out and draws his sidearm, luckily not getting rammed by the driver, who still doesn’t give up on getting away. He starts to create an opening to escape, but police close it up by slamming into the side of the Hyundai, breaking the windows and pinning it against the car next to it. That’s when a second officer exits his vehicles with gun drawn.
Three other juveniles were in the stolen Hyundai at the time, aged 12, 13, and 15. For those who haven’t been paying attention to the Kia Boyz social media trend, this is shocking. But in many areas of the Midwest and increasingly beyond, young kids are deciding they won’t face many consequences for stealing Kias, Hyundais, and certain other models which are exceptionally easy to swipe.
Many in the media have characterized the so-called Kia Boyz as a “TikTok trend” despite videos of their escapades plastered all over every social media platform out there. While it’s great to see the media covering the fact kids have figured out how to easily boost Kias, Hyundais, and some other vehicles using just a USB phone charger, it’s important we emphasize this trend isn’t driven solely by TikTok.
As we’ve covered before, the Kia Boyz trend originates in Milwaukee, which saw skyrocketing car theft rates in 2021 and continues grappling with the crippling problem. While some have tried characterizing it as kids just having fun, the sad reality is what these youths do has a horrific impact on the community as people lose their car and get hurt or worse by the joyriding kids.
