A TikTok trend is challenging people to steal certain cars. Police aren’t amused
Another trend on TikTok is being panned by law enforcement for promoting crime. This time, police say the videos challenge people to steal cars.
The challenge calls for people to steal Kia and Hyundai vehicles, and it has White Settlement Police Chief Christopher Cook upset. The department released dashboard and body-camera video on social media Tuesday, showing an officer finding a stolen vehicle.
The theft, Cook said, was linked to the TikTok challenge.
Due to continued community interest in these social media challenges that showcase how to steal certain types of cars, we are releasing our dash camera and body-worn camera footage from the recent theft that was linked back to a TikTok challenge.
Anyone with information is… pic.twitter.com/UMksAhGG5Y— Christopher Cook (@cooktx) January 30, 2024
The video starts with 911 audio of someone telling dispatchers that a vehicle has gone off the road paired with dash camera footage of a police officer pulling up to the scene at night. A man steps out of a truck in front of the officer and points to the left, where the brake lights can be seen.
A supervisor showed up and officers went to the vehicle to find it empty. They scanned the area with flashlights. When they opened the car, they found it hot wired and empty. The glove box was opened and its contents scattered across the passenger seat and floorboard, and the front and back license plates don’t match.
The officer, talking to the supervisor, makes note of tire marks in the grass that looked like marks he’d seen elsewhere. He suggests the driver planned to back out of the grass, “like it was no big deal,” but got stuck and left the vehicle sitting there.
They note something sitting on the accelerator, holding it down, before the officer realizes the make of the car.
“What model is this? Is this a Hyundai?” he asks, walking to the back of the car. Police redacted parts of the audio that describe a way the vehicle can be stolen. “This model is one where you can use the [redacted] to boost it.”
He tells dispatchers the car is “probably gonna be stolen.”
Popular TikTok videos identify certain Kia and Hyundai cars that are easiest to steal and that taking the vehicles has turned into a challenge.
Vox reported in June 2023 that the number of Kia and Hyundai thefts has risen exponentially. The car companies have been racing to address the problem with software upgrades and by handing out free steering wheel locks, but thefts continue to rise.
Hyundai has already agreed to pay as much as $200 million in a lawsuit, Vox reported.
Cook said on social media that the department posted the video because the community has shown an increased interest in cases of stolen vehicles linked back to the TikTok challenge.
“It’s unfortunate that these TikTok challenges have led to fatalities and countless injuries across the country, not to mention significant loss in people’s property,” Cook said in one post.
Anyone with information is asked to email tips to wspd@wspd.us or call 817-246-4973. It’s unfortunate that these TikTok challenges have led to fatalities and countless injuries across the country, not to mention significant loss in people’s property. https://t.co/CTt9b0YFbw
— Christopher Cook (@cooktx) January 30, 2024
White Settlement police are asking anybody with information on vehicle thefts, especially those related to the challenge, to contact investigators at wspd@wspd.us or 817-246-4973.
