Why are so many Kias and Hyundais being stolen in Wichita? It’s that online challenge

Keely Richardson was awakened by police with some bad news: They had found her 2014 Kia Optima totaled. It had been stolen 20 feet from her bedroom at her home near Harry and Broadway.

“It was completely messed up,” she said. “The rims were all cracked. The bumper was pretty much off. They hit something. There was a huge dent in my windshield, the ignition was gone, it was pretty gross.”

The 27-year-old was lucky enough to have gap insurance to cover the few thousand dollars that her primary insurance wouldn’t. But the Feb. 8 theft added a lot of stress just months before the birth of her first child.

The thefts of John Eshelman’s Hyundais have left the 25-year-old about $10,000 in debt. He’s still waiting to see what gap insurance will cover.

Both times Eshelman found his vehicle stolen outside of his apartment near 21st and Oliver when he was headed to work.

Police found his 2019 Hyundai Ioniq out of gas at an apartment complex near Rock and Kellogg in October. It wasn’t damaged, but the person left marijuana in the cupholder, he said.

After getting that car back, he wrecked it hitting a deer.

He got a 2015 Hyundai Genesis Sport Edition. It was stolen in March. The thief collided with another vehicle near 26th and Grove, totaling it, before taking off on foot.

It’s taken “up my personal life, even my mental capacity and it’s just been frustrating,” he said. “Trying to get where I want to be and that’s not helping for sure … (it’s a) bump in the road.”

He’s now driving a 2011 Buick Regal. He had just one requirement when he went to get a new vehicle, his third, in less than six months.

“Just not to get another Kia or Hyundai,” he said.

Wichita is seeing a national online crime trend of stolen Kias and Hyundais. Those thefts have risen sharply in recent months, even though Chevrolet Silverados are still the top theft targets over the last four-plus years.

Wichita started seeing a notable jump in Kia and Hyundai thefts in September, with 37 vehicles stolen — the most for any one month from January 2020 up to that point, according to police data from 2020 through February.

The single-month high came in January, with 51 thefts, 23% of all vehicle thefts reported. In February, the most recent month The Eagle obtained data for, those brands accounted for 16% of thefts.

Kia Soul was the No. 1 vehicle stolen in Wichita in the first two months of the year combined; Hyundai Sonata was No. 2.

If Kia and Hyundai thefts continue at this accelerated rate, the number stolen this year will far surpass thefts reported in 2021 (108), 2022 (154) and 2023 (182).

Thefts from nationwide trend adding up in Wichita

Kia and Hyundai thefts have exploded across the country since 2020 following an online trend started by the Kia Boys, a loose collective of teenage car thieves.

Monthly Kia and Hyundai thefts in Milwaukee increased eightfold in less than a year’s time to 824 in August 2021 before decreasing dramatically; Chicago saw a 14-fold increase in less than six months to 1,431 in October 2022 before dropping back off, according to Vice.

An anti-theft device on the Korean companies’ U.S. models between 2011 and 2022 made them an easy target, which led to a class-action lawsuit where the companies agreed to a $145 million settlement for victims.

“We are very pleased that it will allow customers who have been impacted by vehicle thefts to receive several additional benefits,” Kia told USA today.

Hyundai told the news outlet that it was “committed to the comprehensive actions we are undertaking to assist customers and communities affected by the persistent thefts of certain Model Year 2011-2022 vehicles not equipped with push-button ignitions and engine immobilizers.”

The settlement was expected to cover about 9 million affected vehicles. The preliminary settlement was reached in October 2023; a judge is expected to give final approval before July 15.

Kim Warehime, a Wichita police lieutenant with the auto theft section, said most children who steal the Kias and Hyundais don’t realize the consequences for them or the effect it has on the victim.

“They (will) purposely try to do donuts or think they can do something that their driving skills can’t do and a Kia can’t handle,” Warehime said. “They think they are just messing around … having a good time but they don’t understand that they are making adult decisions that will affect the rest of their lives.”

She said adults steal the vehicles too, but that is usually for financial gain versus a thrill ride.

In one instance, a Derby woman in her 20s had her 2015 Kia Soul stolen four times in Wichita in less than five months, according to theft reports.

One way WPD has been targeting the thefts is by trying to arrest people in the groups, hoping that will deter the others.

But there are far fewer arrests than there are vehicle thefts. There are three detectives in the auto theft division, Warehime said.

Wichita averages about 200 vehicle thefts a month.

In the cases involving the Kia Boys, the teens will often act in a group and drive the vehicles recklessly before dumping them.

About 91% of the Kias and Hyundais stolen from 2020 through February were recovered or found, compared to about 79% for all vehicles in that time. There were 658 Kia and Hyundai thefts during that time and 10,375 thefts of all vehicles.

Richardson’s Kia Optima was found by police wrecked in a neighborhood near Pawnee and Rock. It had vomit on the side of it.

She had gotten a notice from Kia and taken her vehicle in to get a security upgrade in response to the thefts. It didn’t matter; the thieves still took it.

“Really just having that independence of having my own car, having that taken away from me, especially while I am pregnant, has been really stressful,” she said. “The money situation is very stressful, especially with welcoming a new baby.”

Because of the rampant thefts, some national insurance companies have stopped covering the vehicles and others require a premium to insure them, according to Clites Insurance Associates in Wichita.

Southwest Wichita’s 67217 ZIP code was the most-theft prone for Kias and Hyundais between 2020 through February 2024, with 77 vehicles stolen, an analysis of police data shows. The most theft-prone police beat in the city for those years was Beat 16 in west Wichita, which generally covers Maple to 13th Street and Tyler Road to west of I-235 along the Big Ditch, with 49 Kias and Hyundais stolen.

Hyundai Sonatas (128) and Hyundai Elantras (126) were targeted most often. Soul was the most stolen Kia model (82).

Other car thefts

Todd and Tonya Miller’s daughter’s 2020 Hyundai Elantra and Frank Dorion’s 2015 Kia Optima were both stolen overnight in February.

Todd Miller woke up at his home near 21st and Maize on Feb. 8 and noticed his daughter’s vehicle gone. He called her to ask where she was. She answered, saying she was in her room.

“We’ve lived here 20 years and we’ve never had one problem here, ever,” Miller said, adding he thinks it was targeted because it was a Hyundai. ”Stuff like that, as a rule, is not very common around here.”

The vehicle was found at a QuikTrip in south Wichita with drugs in it.

Their daughter had left the keys in the vehicle. Little damage was done.

Still, after the tow, ordering a new key fob and a cleaning because of concerns about the drugs possibly being fentanyl, it cost them around $1,000.

“We were the fortunate ones,” Todd Miller said. “Police said it very rarely happens that we get the car back in good shape.”

Tonya Miller said: “It was just scary to wake up in the morning and the car’s not here.”

Dorion’s 2015 Kia Optima was stolen overnight Feb. 16 outside of his home near 31st Street South and Seneca.

A 19-year-old Wichita man was arrested driving the car at 3 p.m. three days later.

The vehicle was stolen despite having a security upgrade that was covered by Kia, he said.

“It doesn’t work, obviously,” the 57-year-old said. “I guess I’m the lucky one. This guy used it for (a few days) days. Smelled like a pot factory in it.”

Dorion said insurance covered the cost of roughly $4,500 for damage to his bumper cover, stereo and the dash around the steering wheel.

Dorion said he also is filling out paperwork to get part of the Kia and Hyundai settlement.

“They make it so complicated most people give up on it,” he said, “but I’m not giving up on it.”

He said when he called Crash Champion near West and Kellogg for repairs, the person said: “Oh yea, Kia Boys got you.”

Austin Krogmeier, service adviser at that repair shop, said the Kias and Hyundais had similar damage: broken rear-passenger window and damage to the steering column. He said they saw a spike in January, February and March, but the number had dropped off the first couple weeks of April.

“I’m definitely not saying it’s gone,” he said. “I think it’s going to be around until everyone gets their upgrade … or they start getting caught.”

Contributing: Amy Renee Leiker with The Eagle

Has a vehicle make and model you own been stolen?

Search the database below to see vehicles reported stolen to the Wichita Police Department since late 2019. You can search using any or all of the fields below. To see all thefts, simply click “search.” The database includes December 2019 to February 2024. If you see a blank field, it means police did not know or provide the data. Some vehicles do not have a make, model or year listed because police did not provide that data.

You can find the Wichita police beat you live or work in using the department’s “Find My Wichita Police Beat” search tool, located at the bottom of each patrol bureau’s webpage. Or click here and scroll down.

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