Rochester Mayor Malik Evans says his office has called on Kia and Hyundai to fix problems with some of their vehicles that makes them an easy target for thieves.
Rochester police say more than 400 vehicles have been stolen in Rochester just during these first weeks of 2023, compared with 1,133 thefts during all of last year. During Thursday night’s city council meeting, Captain Brian Morone said social media trends that showed how easy it is to steal one of the vulnerable models are to blame. He says the thieves smash a window, rip the ignition apart and start the car with either a screwdriver or a USB cord. Morone said the suspects are typically juveniles and repeat offenders.
Stolen vehicles have also been used in a series of recent thefts on the east side in which stolen cars are rammed into the front doors of a business which is then burglarized. That happened at Universal Liquor and four other businesses in the past two weeks.
Mayor Evans told council he’s looking at eliminating the $150 impound fee that people must pay to get their recovered cars from the impound lot, and long term, they’re looking at how to involve youth in more productive activities.