BOARDMAN — County residents will need to keep a closer eye on their vehicles. The county has experienced another explosion of car thefts, similar to the spree that occurred throughout much of Mahoning County last year.

Two separate outbreaks in Boardman in 2023 saw approximately 40 vehicles stolen or vandalized; Approximately 28 incidents in September and at least eight to 10 incidents in November. Thieves were also operating in Youngstown and Austintown.

Thefts largely stopped last year, but October saw a new spate of auto thefts and break-ins; Boardman police reports show nearly 18 incidents, including several in the last week alone.

“So far, most of these have been limited to apartment buildings and large parking lots where there are a wide variety of options for car thieves,” said Det. Sergeant. Glenn Patton of the Boardman Police Department. “We also noticed that they were looking for unlocked vehicles and seeing what they could get from the vehicles.”

Patton said thieves prefer certain areas, but all county residents should be vigilant.

“There are some areas that are targeted a little more frequently due to the size of the apartments and the number of vehicles in the general area, but we’ve seen this across the county,” he said.

REPORTS

On Oct. 1, a 2020 Polaris Slingshot was stolen from a man’s garage in the 100 block of Argyle Avenue. The owner saw a man wearing a hoodie and possibly a face mask enter the garage just after 1:30 a.m. on doorbell camera video, the report said.

A 2017 Hyundai Elantra was reported missing on Oct. 14 in the 4000 block of Glenwood Boulevard. The car was stolen some time after the owner’s partner returned home from work the previous evening and saw the car parked in the parking lot around 18.30. Broken glass was found where the rear passenger side window should have been.

On October 31, thieves struck that area again, looting a 2016 Hyundai Accent parked in the apartment building’s parking lot from 10:30 pm on Wednesday until 2:45 pm on Halloween. The owner said two white gold rings worth about $500 were missing from the car.

October 22 was perhaps the busiest day for vehicle incidents in the district.

A woman reported the rear passenger window of her 2023 Kia Seltos was broken. The vehicle was parked in a parking lot behind an apartment building on Glendale Boulevard. Police found shoe prints on the backseat of the car.

A black Chevy Equinox was stolen from a parking lot in the 7100 block of Locust Boulevard overnight. During their investigation, the police found that other vehicles were also destroyed. An eyewitness told police he saw suspicious activity around the parking lot around 2:30 a.m.

The 2020 Kia Sportage’s rear driver’s side window was broken, the steering column cover was peeled back, and a USB cable was connected to the ignition.

They found another Kia Sportage in similar condition, matching a vehicle reported stolen by YPD. A Jeep Cherokee had been attacked, but the owner reported nothing was lost.

A 2022 Hyundai Elantra was also broken into and the steering column was peeled back. A peeled steering column cover was found in the back seat. Police were able to remove palm prints and fingerprints from two Kia Sportages.

Thieves struck the same location again on October 27 when they tried to steal a 2021 Kia Soul from its spot in the parking lot. The owner found the car around 8:30 a.m. with the rear passenger side window shattered and the steering column cover peeled off. The police report estimated the damage at $3,000.

Later, on Oct. 27, a resident of the same block reported that his 2021 Kia Seltos was burglarized and $2 in change was stolen, although there was no damage to the vehicle. This person told police his vehicle may have been unlocked.

On Oct. 23, a 2011 Buick Regal reported stolen by YPD was found abandoned behind an apartment building at 2025 Wolosyn Circle in Boardman.

On Oct. 26, around 10:30 p.m., police responded to a home in the 900 block of Larkridge Boulevard. The man there reported his 2014 Hyundai Elantra missing from his driveway. The man told police he had the keys. However, they found the latch on the driver’s side door on the road in front of the house. They also found the vehicle’s registration, insurance information, owner’s manual and disabled placard along Glenridge Road near Mathews Road.

A neighbor’s security camera captured the car driving away, and another neighbor told police he saw two men wearing black hoodies push the car into the driveway before driving away, the report states.

On Oct. 31, a man also reported his 2013 Chevrolet Cruze missing from his apartment building in the 4500 block of South Avenue. He told police he parked it near the building around 12:30 a.m. and it disappeared at 8 a.m. There was no broken glass, but at that point police noticed condensation believed to be coming from the vehicle, indicating that the vehicle had been sitting there for some time. moment before the suspect drove him away.

On Wednesday, a landscaping business’s trailer was reported missing from several locations along Lake Park Road, where it was stored with the property owner’s permission. The property owner said he hadn’t seen it in a month and assumed the landscaper had taken it back.

On Friday, police responded to Danbury Drive; where a woman reported that her unlocked 2017 Subaru Legacy parked in her driveway was ransacked and thieves took approximately $120 in cash and change from the center console.

During the investigation, police also found a wallet belonging to a nearby resident. They tried to return it, but no one was home.

On Saturday, a resident of an apartment building in the 4000 block of South Avenue reported finding his 2015 Kia Sportage with the steering column cover completely stripped and the column damaged. The owner refused to have it processed as evidence and said he only wanted a police report for insurance to get the car repaired.

Prior to October, the last reported incident occurred on Aug. 31, when a 1988 Chevrolet G20 minivan was reported missing in the 4000 block of Windsor Road. The suspects broke in by breaking the front passenger side window. Inside the van was a canoe, sleeping bags, tents and a charcoal grill. The canoe was missing when Youngstown police found the van on Sept. 4.

BENEFITS FROM INTERNET SECURITY FEATURES

This crime spree is similar to the last one as the thieves seem to be particularly interested in Kias and Hyundais. These cars are being targeted because there are videos all over the internet showing how to take advantage of the safety features of these vehicles. Hyundai is the parent company of Kia Motors.

Police said last year that the trend started as a challenge to TikTok and has morphed into a nationwide auto theft problem, with certain models being stolen at alarmingly high rates.

Most affected Kia vehicles are 2011-2021 models that require a key to start the vehicle, and most affected Hyundai vehicles are 2016-2021 models such as Accent, Elantra, Sonata, Veloster, Venue, Kona, Tucson, Santa Fe. and Palisade.

Patton said that remains a problem.

“Kia has tried to solve this problem and has been proactive in getting owners to get these updates to their cars, so (the theft method) won’t work, but there are still enough vehicles that can do it,” he said. .

Patton said the Kia and Hyundai problem is similar to what GM vehicle owners dealt with in the 1990s and early 2000s, when thieves could use ignition keys with just a screwdriver.

To help prevent vehicles from being stolen, steering locks, like other anti-theft steering lock systems available, can act as a deterrent, Patton said.

“More residents are using The Club, pillar locks and other things, and as soon as your car thief sees that, he’s going to drive by,” Patton said.

JUDICIAL PARTICIPATION?

Most of the incidents last year were believed to involve teenagers.

For example, on August 15, 2023, police responded to Schwebel’s Baking Co. on Midlothian Avenue. received a report that four people were trying to break into vehicles in the parking lot. An officer spotted three people in the parking lot and watched as one began pounding on a vehicle window, not realizing police were there. The three fled towards Zedaker Street, where they met another person.

Other officers found the three men a short time later on Midlothian Boulevard. A 14-year-old boy and a 15-year-old boy were charged with criminal trespass and curfew violation, while a 16-year-old boy was charged with criminal trespass and curfew violation, according to police.

Sources told The Vindicator that teens are suspects in at least the Locust Boulevard incidents.

But Patton said the department can’t yet say exactly who is responsible for this year’s events.

“It’s not just young people who are responsible,” he said. “This is becoming a common practice. It might be a little early to speculate about who did this. “We’ll have to wait for physical evidence to come back from the lab before we can say who we’re really dealing with.”

Mahoning County Juvenile Prosecutor Anissa Modarelli said many teenagers were charged with auto theft last year, but those crimes are unlikely to land kids in jail.

Modarelli said at least in the Mahoning County Juvenile Court system, auto theft is charged with receiving stolen property, a fourth-degree felony.

A fourth-degree crime could land a teenager in an Ohio Department of Youth Services facility for at least 6 months, but Modarelli said that’s unlikely for auto theft unless the child is a repeat offender. Adults charged with a fourth-degree crime can face 6 to 18 months in prison and a $5,000 fine.

“Everything is done on a case-by-case basis, and because the juvenile system in Ohio is rehabilitative, courts generally do not send low-level offenders to DYS,” Modarelli said.

Young people are often imprisoned only for violent crimes against other people. He said stealing from cars is only a misdemeanor and certainly not eligible for jail time.

Patton said the department has increased patrols in some areas and is encouraging citizens to be careful and call police if they notice anything suspicious.

“They are often our best line of defense and our best partners in these situations,” he said. “Because we have good relationships with the community, it’s helpful if they engage in activity that doesn’t seem right.”

Patton said the upcoming holiday season has also resulted in an increase in thefts in commercial areas, encouraging residents and visitors to town to keep their doors locked and at least keep valuables out of sight or avoid leaving them in the car altogether.

He said neighbors need to watch out for each other and be wary of people in the neighborhood who look strange or who appear to be staring at cars.