COLUMBUS, Ohio — Kaitlyn Mariner said her Kia was broken into on Friday. Five days later, her neighbors experienced the same thing at their apartment complex.
She said car break-ins and thefts have become, “a Columbus wide issue.”
Mariner said she is thankful she had just installed a software update to prevent her Kia from being stolen altogether.
In February, Hyundai and Kia developed anti-theft software to require the key to be in the ignition switch to turn the vehicle on.
Still, earlier Saturday morning, she woke up to her vehicle’s window smashed open and more damage than that.
“My entire driver's window was busted out. I went around to the other side of my car to really look in and see what was going on the entire bottom portion of my steering column, they ripped off the plastic, they ripped out the wires, my ignition was dangling down, there was broken plastic all over parts that they couldn't easily pull off. It looks like they just hammered them out or ripped them out somehow."
Then on Wednesday, her neighbors experienced more vehicle break-ins, but this time the cars targeted were not Kias or Hyundais.
"Our apartments are right next to the parking lot. So that scares me that if they can't get what they're wanting from the cars, are they going to come into these apartments? The windows that are five feet from the cars that they're breaking into? You know, maybe someone's patio, the door that leads to their home from their patio, like is it going to continue to escalate or is it just specifically cars? It's worrisome,” Mariner said.
An email from the apartment complex, Kendall Park, to tenants reads in part, "since learning of this information this week, we have contacted the police to ask for increased patrols."
In February, Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein filed a lawsuit against Kia and Hyundai.
"We want to fight for each individual consumer on behalf of the City of Columbus to hold them, the auto manufacturers accountable,” Klein said.