In Vandalia, three cars have been stolen this month compared to six in July. In Kettering, police report car thefts down to three compared to four in July.
Although, Kettering police saw a spike in August when nine cars were stolen. Trotwood police report 20 cars stolen in October and in July there were 18 thefts.
Meanwhile, across Montgomery County, car thefts are up to 40 this month. In July, 30 cars were reported stolen.
The thefts are linked to a summer TikTok campaign targeting Kia's and Hyundai's that require a mechanical key to start the engine. People are challenged to steal these cars by using a USB cord. Then to post on social media a video of themselves driving the stolen car featuring the term “Kia Boyz."
Major Jason Hall is with Dayton's Patrol Operations.
“These are very serious crimes that affect us all,” said Major Hall. “It goes well beyond the person who is deprived of their vehicle, having trouble making it to work, to a doctor's appointment, making it to the grocery store.”
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In addition, Major Hall said police in other communities report these stolen vehicles are being used in other crimes.As a result, law enforcement agencies in Dayton, Trotwood, Kettering and Vandalia as well as county sheriff deputies have created a task force.
They hope by pooling their resources and street connections they can put the brakes on the people committing these crimes.
“We're looking at the crime stats, we're looking at recovery locations, we're looking at locations where vehicles were stolen. We're also looking at targeted individuals to pick our areas that we'll be operating in,” explained Major Hall. “They (the operations) are also pre-planned and briefed to make sure they're done in the safest way possible.”
Earlier this month, a suspect almost hit a Dayton police officer while the officer and his partner were attempting to recover a stolen Kia.
“We had one of our officers nearly struck by the vehicle, we had an innocent citizen and his vehicle which was struck and we had a cruiser struck,” recalled Major Hall. “A lot of times these stolen vehicles are not being driven gingerly. They're attempting to evade [police], they're not concerned about the damages.”
When parking on the street or in public areas, Major Hall urges drivers to always lock your doors, do not leave keys or a fab in your vehicle, completely roll up your windows and park in well lit areas. He also recommended using a steering wheel locking device and or a GPS tracking system.
