SAN ANTONIO — Car thieves appear to be targeting a San Antonio apartment complex, where 12 vehicles have been stolen just within the last year.
One tenant's security camera caught the criminals in the act.
As one victim told KENS 5, the thieves work fast. She watched via surveillance video as they stole her car in less than five minutes.
"I didn't think it would happen to me, but it did," said Tiffany Hodge.
On the evening of Sept. 28, Hodge walked outside to her white 2021 Kia Soul to leave for work, only to find it not there.
"At first I started panicking," said Hodge.
She thought she may have forgotten where she parked. She soon realized the reality: Someone stole her car.
"I go into 'fix-it' mode and I start calling my boyfriend, I called the cops and called my insurance," said Hodge.
She lives at the Aspire Roxbury Apartments, off Loop 410 between Ingram and Culebra. It's a gated community, and Hodge has been there since June.
"I don't know if they took it for a joyride or if they took it to a chop shop," she wondered.
The following day, a neighbor shared surveillance footage with Hodge showing the criminals driving off in her car. It took them mere minutes to break in and drive away.
"[In the video] we are seeing two guys breaking the window," Hodge explained. "One hopping into the back passenger window and the other keeping an eye out."
The thieves can also be seen disabling the car horn. When they broke in the lights began blinking, but no alarm sound was made.
The car has since been found, after it was found on the east side near Fort Sam Houston on Monday, where police say they also found a stolen Hyundai. But the search for the suspects continues.
Which cars are most-targeted?
Another video shared with KENS 5 shows criminals stealing another neighbor's Kia on August 28. After reviewing multiple surveillance videos, Hodge believes it's the same people responsible for these crimes.
Hodge worries this could all be part of a social media trend.
"Right after we found out that our neighbor's car got stolen, I looked it up to see what was going on. They call themselves the 'Kia Boys.' It's a TikTok challenge and they're using a USB cord to steal the Kias," Hodge explained.
San Antonio police, however, say their Vehicle Crimes Unit has not seen any link to the TikTok trend in any of their cases.
They encourage everyone to keep their cars locked, never leave keys or valuables inside and park in well-lit areas. Hodge says that's exactly what she did.
She picked up her rental car a few days after hers was stolen, but her bad luck continued: After not driving it over the weekend, she discovered on Monday that the vehicle's catalytic converter had been stolen, reflecting another growing crime trend of its own.
Lincoln Property Company, the owner of Aspire Roxbury apartments, says they are working with San Antonio Police to request increased patrols in the area. The company also says they're actively looking for a courtesy officer to help patrol the complex after hours when the office is closed.
Management at the complex notified residents about increased crime in the area and advised tenants stay as vigilant as possible.
SAPD officials say that, out of all cars stolen in San Antonio, Kias were among the top 10 most-enticing vehicles for criminals. Here is the full list of the most frequently stolen cars in San Antonio, between January and July of 2022:
- Ford F-Series Pickup
- Chevrolet Pickup
- Dodge Ram Pickup
- Chevrolet Suburban/Tahoe
- GMC Pickup
- Ford E-Series Van
- Hyundai Elantra
- Jeep
- Kia Optima
- Toyota Corolla