On the evening of June 2, Justine Link was cooking dinner in the kitchen of her Cheektowaga home when thieves quietly sneaked up her driveway toward her gold 2021 Kia Sportage.
Using a far-too-simple method popularized on TikTok for stealing Kias and Hyundais , they smashed a rear window, broke open the steering column and effortlessly started her SUV before driving away with it.
She called the police, who told her how common such vehicle thefts are these days.
The next day, she decided she was going to find her Kia. She drove around Buffalo in a rental car, asking people along the way where they had noticed abandoned cars. She ended up near Olympic Avenue and Decker Street where she caught a flash of gold out of the corner of her eye. It was her Kia Sportage.
In the heat of the moment, she couldn’t stop herself from chasing after her Kia. (She realizes now that wasn’t a wise decision.)
The youths inside the car began making sudden turns down side streets. Link said she screamed at them to stop and claimed to have a gun. (She didn’t really.) They pulled into a parking lot at the Langfield Homes and bailed out of her car.
She posted about her experience on her personal Facebook page and saw from the comments that she was far from alone.
Then she had an idea: She decided to start a public Facebook group called WNY Stolen Vehicles that would connect people whose Kias, Hyundais and other cars were stolen.
It quickly grew. Within three weeks, she had 1,200 members and her posts were being widely shared throughout Western New York. She’s now joined by two more administrators to help her manage the page – Paula Andrea, a social worker, and Dee Gates, who like Link is a nurse.
“I never thought it was going to blow up like this,” Link said.
The posts to WNY Stolen Vehicles run the gamut.
“HELP! Last night my 2019 Silver KIA Sportage was stolen on Niagara Street between Frost Bakery and Mint Mojito Bar.”
“Black dodge Durango….
Read the full article here
Leave a Reply