Bradenton police seeing uptick in Kia, Hyundai car thefts

Car theft warning in Bradenton

Jordan Bowen reports

BRADENTON, Fla. - Four teens are facing charges after the Bradenton Police Department said the group stole a Kia and a Hyundai car and tried to steal a third. Officers said over the last few months, they've seen an uptick in Kia and Hyundai thefts.

Surveillance video shows the three teens trying to steal another Hyundai.

"They attempt to access the inside of the vehicle to hopefully steal it. They were not successful. However, our detectives were able to determine that the two vehicles that the criminals brought to the scene were both stolen vehicles," said Meredith Censullo, BPD's public information officer.

Both vehicles were a Kia and a Hyundai. Since August, Bradenton police said there have been 12 thefts of Kias and Hyundais and 14 more attempted thefts.

"There's been a social media trend circulating for years now called the Kia Challenge," Censullo said. "What you see is groups of young people actually stealing these types of cars or trying to steal these types of cars. It is possible that new people are discovering that challenge and maybe trying it out themselves."

Both Kias and Hyundais don't have an immobilizer, which is an anti-theft device that prevents the car from starting when someone tries to use a key that doesn't match the car.

For drivers with Kias and Hyundais, there are now software upgrades available for certain model years, but Bradenton PD said there still may be drivers out there who haven't downloaded the upgrades.

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"A lot of the attempted thefts we've seen have been with Hyundai's, which most Hyundai's are now that issue has been rectified. But in my opinion, a lot of these younger criminals maybe don't know whether or not that particular vehicle has that anti-theft device," Censullo said.

For more information on Kia upgrades, click here. For more information on Hyundai upgrades, click here.

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