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Woman's Kia, puppets used to teach special needs students stolen as part of suspected TikTok challenge

A Raleigh woman had her 2020 Kia stolen from her home. In the back of the car, she had puppets she uses to teach students at Dynamic Opportunities in Raleigh.

Posted 2023-05-09T20:20:46+00:00 - Updated 2023-05-09T21:53:01+00:00

Increase in Kia, Hyundai thefts causes more problems

Chelsea Donovan

, WRAL reporter

There are ripple effects of an increasing surge of car thefts in Raleigh.

On Monday morning, Laura Gabrieli had her 2020 Kia stolen from her home on Green Knight Drive in Raleigh. She believes it was stolen like many others as part of a TikTok challenge circulating.

“I felt … violated,” Gabrieli said. “I felt unsafe.”

Many Kia and Hyundai models are not equipped with anti-theft immobilizers. The social media “challenge” demonstrates how they can be stolen using a screwdriver and a USB cable.

Gabrieli has filed a police report. However, officers have yet to link her car theft to the TikTok challenge.

While Gabrieli lost her car to thieves, her students at Dynamic Opportunities on 700 Brooks Ave. in Raleigh are also victims of the theft. Dynamic Opportunities is a private school for middle and high school students with special needs. In the car were puppets Gabrieli uses to help her students.

“These puppets are not something I can buy on Amazon,” she said. “These are the only friends they have.”

Also, Gabrieli described her students as “bright and talented."

“They have a lot of potential,” she said. “Maybe their social and communications skills are off and behind.”

The puppets help her students flourish, express their feelings and boost their self-esteem.

“They do drama through puppets,” Gabrieli said of her students.

Max Keene, 19, is among the students Gabrieli teaches.

“I’m a proud puppeteer of these two guys,” Keene said of two puppets that weren’t stolen.

Car thefts increasing in Raleigh, police data shows

Raleigh police data shows car thefts in the city rose over the past four years, including throughout the pandemic.

After a dip in 2018, the number of motor vehicle thefts rose each year:

2018: 837
2019: 916
2020: 1,018
2021: 1,148
2022: 1,283

From 2018 to 2022, car thefts in Raleigh rose 53%. That far outpaces the population growth of the city.

So far this year in Raleigh, there have been 518 motor vehicle thefts.

Last year through April 26, only 398 had been reported, and in 2021 it was 311.

So, looking roughly at the first four months of the year, car thefts are up 67% this year compared to 2021.

North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein has called on the manufacturers to address the hardships that have led to an increase in crime.

“Kia and Hyundai should have included anti-theft devices on their cars. Because of that omission, car owners are suffering,” Stein said in a March news release. “Kia and Hyundai need to act now to address the hardships they are causing their customers and the rise in crime they are contributing to.”

Easily stolen Hyundais and Kias should be recalled, more than a dozen attorneys general say

Preventing Kia, Hyundai thefts

An estimated 8.3 million Hyundais and Kias dating to the 2011 model year can be stolen easily by using just a screwdriver and a USB cord, creating an auto-theft outbreak across the U.S.

The cars lack theft immobilizers, whereby computer chips in the car keys and the steering columns must recognize each other before the engines will start.

The wave of thefts began in 2021 and spread nationally as a result of instructional videos posted on TikTok and other social media sites. Some police departments report continued rampant thefts despite the automakers' unveiling of anti-theft software nearly three months ago.

Here are the vehicles covered by the software upgrade:

Hyundai: