BOARDMAN — Township residents will need to keep a closer eye on their vehicles. Another car theft rash has broken out in the township, similar to the spree that ran through much of Mahoning County last year.

In 2023, two separate outbreaks in Boardman saw nearly 40 vehicles stolen or vandalized — about 28 incidents in September and at least another eight to 10 in November. Thieves also were active in Youngstown and Austintown.

The thefts largely ceased over the past year, but October saw a new outbreak of auto thefts and break-ins, with roughly 18 incidents showing up in Boardman police reports, several just during the past week.

“A lot of them so far have been confined to apartment buildings, big parking lots where there’s a wide variety of selection for car thieves,” said Det. Sgt. Glenn Patton of the Boardman Police Department. “We’ve also noticed that they’re going through and looking for unlocked vehicles and seeing what they can take from the vehicles.”

Patton said the thieves do favor some areas but all township residents should be on the lookout.

“There are certain areas that have been targeted a little more often due to the size of the apartment complexes and number of vehicles in the general area, but we have seen it townshipwide,” he said.

THE REPORTS

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

On Oct. 14, a 2017 Hyundai Elantra was reported missing from the 4000 block of Glenwood Avenue. It was stolen sometime after the owner’s partner returned home from work the previous evening and saw it secured in the car port about 6:30 p.m. Broken glass was found where the rear passenger side window would have been.

On Oct. 31, the thieves struck that location again, ransacking a 2016 Hyundai Accent parked in the apartment building’s carport sometime between 10:30 p.m. Wednesday and 2:45 p.m. on Halloween. The owner said two white gold rings worth about $500 were missing from the car.

Oct. 22 was perhaps the busiest day for vehicle incidents in the township.

A woman reported the rear passenger window of her 2023 Kia Seltos broken. The vehicle was sitting in the carport behind an apartment building on Glendale Avenue. Police found a shoe print on the back seat of the car.

In the 7100 block of Locust Avenue, a black Chevy Equinox was stolen from the carport overnight. While investigating, police found several other vehicles had been vandalized. A witness told police she had seen suspicious activity around the carport about 2:30 a.m.

A 2020 Kia Sportage had a broken rear driver’s side window, with the steering column cover peeled back and a USB cable attached to the ignition.

They found another Kia Sportage in similar condition, which matched a vehicle reported stolen by YPD. A Jeep Cherokee had been rifled through, but the owner reported nothing missing.

A 2022 HyundaI Elantra also was entered and the steering column peeled back. The peeled steering column cover was found in the back seat. Police were able to lift palm and fingerprints from the two Kia Sportages.

The thieves struck that location again Oct. 27, when they attempted to steal a 2021 Kia Soul from its place in the carport. The owner found the car about 8:30 a.m. with the rear passenger’s side window smashed out and the steering column cover peeled off. The police report states that the damage is estimated at $3,000.

Later on Oct. 27, a resident in the same block reported that her 2021 Kia Seltos had been burglarized and $2 in loose change was stolen, though there was no damage to the vehicle. That person told police her 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 Avenue. The man there reported his 2014 Hyundai Elantra was missing from the driveway. The man told police he had the keys. But in the road in front of the house, they found the lock tumbler from the driver’s side door. They also found the vehicle’s registration, insurance information, owner’s manual and handicap placard in the road along Glenridge Drive near Mathews Road.

The report states a neighbor’s security camera caught the car being driven away, and another neighbor told police she saw two men in black hoodies pushing the car down the driveway before driving it away.

On Oct. 31 again, a man reported his 2013 Chevrolet Cruze missing from his apartment building in the 4500 block of South Avenue. He told police he parked it alongside the building about 12:30 a.m. and it was gone at 8 a.m. There was no broken glass, but police did notice condensation in that spot, which they believed came from the vehicle, indicating it idled in place for some time before the suspect drove it away.

On Wednesday, a landscaping business’s trailer was reported missing from a lot on Lake Park Road, where the owner stores it with the property owner’s permission. The property owner said he had not seen it for a month and assumed the landscaper took it back.

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

While investigating, police also found a wallet belonging to the resident of a nearby residence. They tried to return it but nobody was home.

On Saturday, a resident at an apartment complex in the 4000 block of South Avenue reported he found his 2015 Kia Sportage with the steering column cover completely peeled back and the column damaged. The owner declined to have it processed for evidence and said he only wanted a police report for insurance to get the car fixed.

Before October, the last reported incident occurred back on Aug. 31, when a 1988 Chevrolet G20 van was reported missing from the 4000 block of Windsor Road. The suspects entered by breaking the front passenger side window. The van contained a kayak, sleeping bags, tents, and a charcoal grill. When Youngstown police found the van on Sept. 4, the kayak was missing.

INTERNET EXPLOITS SECURITY FEATURES

This crime spree is similar to the last one in that the thieves seem especially interested in Kias and Hyundais. Those cars are targeted because there are videos all over the internet showing how to exploit security features of those particular vehicles. Hyundai is the parent company of Kia Motors.

Police said last year that the trend started as a TikTok challenge and has surged into a nationwide auto theft issue where certain models are being stolen at alarmingly high rates.

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

Patton said it remains an issue.

“Kia has tried to address it, and have been proactive in trying to get owners to get those updates made to their cars so (the theft method) won’t work, but there’s still enough vehicles out there that it can,” he said.

Patton said the Kia and Hyundai problem is similar to what owners of GM vehicles dealt with in the 1990s and early 2000s, when thieves were able to exploit ignition switches using just a screwdriver.

Patton said to help prevent vehicles from being stolen, a steering wheel lock can be a deterrent as well as other anti-theft steering wheel locking systems that are available.

“More residents are using The Club and column locks, and other things, and your car thief will walk right past when they see it,” Patton said.

JUVENILE INVOLVEMENT?

Last year, many of the incidents were believed to involve juveniles.

For example, on Aug. 15, 2023, police received reports of four people attempting to break into vehicles at Schwebel’s Baking Co. parking lot on Midlothian Boulevard. One officer saw three people in the lot and watched one begin punching the window of a vehicle before they realized police were there. The three fled toward Zedaker Street, where they met another person.

Other officers located three of them shortly thereafter on Midlothian Boulevard. A 14-year-old and a 15-year-old were charged with possession of criminal tools and curfew violations, and a 16-year-old was charged with criminal trespassing and curfew violation, according to police.

Sources told The Vindicator that juveniles are suspects in at least the Locust Avenue incidents.

However, Patton said the department cannot say exactly who is responsible yet for this year’s incidents.

“It’s not just juveniles that are responsible,” he said. “It’s becoming a common practice. To speculate on who is doing it, it may be a bit early. We’ll have to wait until the physical evidence comes back from the lab before we can say who we’re actually dealing with.”

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

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

A fourth-degree felony can get a juvenile a 6-month minimum stint in an Ohio Department of Youth Services facility, but Modarelli said that for auto theft, unless the child is a repeat offender, that is unlikely. Adults charged with a fourth-degree felony may face 6-18 months in jail and a $5,000 fine.

“Everything is done on a case-by-case basis, and because the juvenile system in Ohio is a rehabilitative one, courts generally don’t send low-level felons to DYS,” Modarelli said.

Juveniles are usually only jailed for violent crimes against other people. She said stealing from cars is only a misdemeanor and certainly not eligible for incarceration.

Patton said the department has increased patrols in some areas and encouraged residents to stay vigilant and call police if they notice anything suspicious.

“They’re usually our best line of defense and our best partners in these cases,” he said. “Having the good relationship we do with the community, it’s helpful when they call in activity that doesn’t seem right.”

Patton said the looming holiday season also brings an increase in thefts around commercial areas and encourages residents and visitors to the township to keep their doors locked, and at least keep valuables out of sight or entirely avoid leaving them in the car.

He said neighbors should look out for each other and be on the lookout for people who seem out of place in the neighborhood or anyone who appears to be looking into cars.