NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – A man in Sylvan Park claimed someone tried stealing his Kia on Friday night.
The next night — directly across the street — somebody stole a Hyundai.
Monty Hicks said his 2011 Kia Forte was parked on the street in front of their house. Hicks said it was a rare night that he forgot to lock the car but got a shock when he went to leave for work in the morning.
“I opened the car door, and half of the steering column is sitting on the floorboard,” Hicks said. “It’s all torn up. My windshield wiper arm is broken off. So I’m like, somebody tried to steal this car.”
He said the puzzling part is that nothing was taken out of the car.
“I have a lot of camera equipment because I have a podcast, and so all that stuff was still there,” he said. “They just wanted the car.”
Now Hicks said he wonders why the car was not stolen, given the fact the damage points to someone trying to steal it.
“Maybe it could’ve been a timing issue,” Hicks said. “Somebody walked by or drove by, and so they jumped out and ran.”
The next night, a Hyundai parked on the other side of the road was stolen. Lauryn Evans said it was her aunt’s car, who was visiting from out of town. The thief smashed the window and drove it away. She said people frequently park there and walk to nearby restaurants.
“I just never would have thought something like that would happen here,” Evans said.
They called the police, but Evans said the officer did not seem surprised to hear what happened.
“He said that it’s usually kids that just want to joyride for a couple days, and then they dump it somewhere,” Evans said. “He was confident that they would find it within a week or a month just in a random parking lot or a couple blocks down the road. So we’re hoping it turns up.”
These incidents both track with the Metro Nashville Police Department seeing a huge spike in this type of crime. MNPD said that compared to this time last year, Hyundai and Kia thefts have increased by 410%. Police said they are responding to so many Kia and Hyundai thefts they are asking drivers to take steps on their own to help prevent them.
MNPD is asking Kia and Hyundai owners with 2011 through 2022 models to head to their local dealerships for an anti-theft software upgrade. The upgrade will ensure the car cannot be started without the key.
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