COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Columbus Division of Police is investigating after a suspected stolen vehicle crashed into a store on the city’s east side early Monday morning.
Dispatchers received a call around 2:50 a.m. about a car crashing into Family Dollar, located at 2250 Courtright Road.
Arriving officers found a dark-colored Kia Optima that appeared to have driven through the front of the doors, leaving behind significant damage to the building.
Police say the driver left the scene before police arrived. Additional information surrounding the crash or the suspected vehicle theft was not immediately available.
An assistant manager at the store saw the surveillance video was shocked by what happened.
"When I saw the video, it definitely seemed intentional. It definitely wowed me because I didn't understand the motive of the person. They didn't really take anything. They basically just destroyed our front door," said Trinity Ross.
Ross said the store will likely be closed for a few days.
"It does take away from our hours. Our district manager has offered us to pick up hours at another store if needed. It is a big inconvenience for people without transportation," Ross said.
No injuries were reported.
CrimeTracker 10 has been been reporting on stolen Kias and Hyundais for more than a year. Thieves target the vehicles because of a deficiency in some models that make it easy to steal.
According to data from the Columbus Division of Police, there have been about 3,500 cars reported stolen in Columbus as of June 12. At this time last year, there were nearly 10,000 reports.
Of the reported cars stolen this year, nearly 1,100 of those vehicles are Hyundais and 876 are Kias. At this time last year, there were 1,633 Kias and 1,969 Hyundais stolen.