ST. LOUIS – The City of St. Louis is threatening to sue Kia and Hyundai if the car companies don’t make satisfactory progress to mitigate the “public nuisance” local leaders say a security flaw in the vehicles has caused.
St. Louis officials say there has been a surge in the thefts of Kias and Hyundais in recent months and believe it has contributed to violent crime in the area.
The City counselor sent an Aug. 19 letter to both Kia and Hyundai saying their defective vehicles have caused a “public safety crisis” in the City. It also states that if progress isn’t made in 30 days to mitigate the problem, the City counselor will seek all legal remedies, including filing a suit.
Last week, Spectrum News reported St. Louis Public Safety Director Dan Isom mentioned during a weekly briefing that the City was exploring ways to try and hold the companies accountable and fix the problems with their vehicles. After this week’s meeting, the City released a copy of the letter.
The letter states the companies’ admittedly failed to install engine immobilizers, and the respective failures have caused an epidemic of car thefts throughout the nation.
St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department received reports of 356 thefts or attempted thefts of Hyundais and Kias between Aug. 1 and Aug. 13, 77% of the total number of vehicles stolen during that period. Since the beginning of the year, there have been more than 1,500 reported thefts or attempted thefts of these vehicles. The City is reportedly on pace to surpass the total number of vehicle thefts for the entire 2021 calendar year by the end of August 2022.
The City says investigating and documenting these vehicle thefts and recovery efforts are taxing City resources and focing the police to devote significant resources to documenting, investigating and recovering stolen cars.
The letter also explains the vehicles aren’t just being stolen, but involved in “all manner of mayhem” on City streets, including erratic driving and speeding. On June 26, the City says a stolen Hyundai Elantra and stolen Kia Optima were involved in a shooting in which six other vehicles were shot and damaged.
The City is also demanding that Kia and Hyundai mitigate the defective conditions providing thieves a way to destroy property, endanger drivers, and in some cases commit felonies, according to the letter.
A Hyundai spokesperson said it has supported local police efforts to make steering wheel locks available and has found a security kit that can be bought and installed starting October 1.