NEW ORLEANS — The latest rash of car thefts in New Orleans are coming as
In surveillance video from early Sunday morning, you could see a man walk out of D.P. Dough on Decatur St. in Freret, immediately noticing something is wrong.
He’s a DoorDash driver. He tries to get in front of the car that also serves as a vehicle for his personal income, but the thief keeps going.
“He comes to pick up the order and while he is picking up the order waiting outside his car was stolen right in front of him,” the store owner said.
He said the driver left his car running when he stepped inside, “They didn’t care about his life.”
Aidan Hale, who lives in Central City, had his Kia stolen twice in less than a weeks. “It got stolen twice, two times within eight days,” he said.
Hall went on to say about his stolen Optima, “I’ve had no car for three weeks and the repair bill is going to be like a grand at least.”
And New Orleans' car theft problem is something cities nationwide are experiencing too.
Larger cities like Philadelphia are also seeing a surge in car thefts especially Kia's and Hyundai's. According to Philadelphia Police, as of Sunday there’s been 1593 car thefts there this year.
Data expert Jeff Asher said its extremely rare to see a crime trend like this…. And it all coincides with the TikTok hack trend.
“A lot of cities have seen a large increase, Chicago , Philadelphia and smaller places Omaha Nebraska,” Asher said.
He went on to say, “It lead to almost immediately an increase in car thefts and its just continued, continued and continued.”
He said since the start of last year 3-5% of Kia’s and Hyundai’s were being stolen, now that number is closer to 30-50%.
“Something has to give though, people who are at substantially high risk of having their car stolen, they’re not going to drive that car if they don’t have to,” Asher said.
Victims like Hale want manufactures to take action, “Kia should step up and install immobilizers in these older vehicles for free, either do that or do a recall.”
To help prevent your car from being stolen you can buy a steering wheel club. If you need to park on the street, park in a well lit area, never leave your car unattended if its running and always lock your car doors.