Police: Car thefts in Montgomery County may be linked to TikTok trend
NORRISTOWN, Pa. (CBS) -- Police in Montgomery County say a challenge on TikTok and other social media platforms is showing people how to steal certain cars.
Police say an alarming increase in vehicle thefts has residents in Norristown on edge.
"You have to keep alert but only so much because it happens during the dead of the night," a neighbor said.
Police say there were eight thefts or attempted thefts of cars between Dec. 5 through Dec. 14.
"Each of these cars was either Kia or Hyundai," Norristown Police Lt. Kenneth Lawless said. "And we are of the belief that they were all because of the TikTok challenge regarding the thefts of those make and brand cars."
This social media trend, which began this summer, encourages young people to steal Hyundai or Kia cars with a "turn to start" ignition by hotwiring them with a USB cord.
"It's causing a lot of people financial loss as well as heartache," Lawless said.
Police say one of the thefts happened Monday on Freedley Street.
A man says his neighbor is the victim.
"She told us basically how the car was stolen from her during the night," the neighbor said.
Police say surveillance video shows one of the attempted thefts.
They describe in the video a car stopping in the middle of Arch Street. Two people got out and shined a flashlight into a parked car.
"They were thwarted because the owners heard the noise outside and hit their alarms and scared them off," Lawless said.
TikTok released a statement saying, "TikTok does not condone this behavior which violates our policies and will be removed if found on our platform."
"One of the vehicles was stolen," Lawless said. "We have a person of interest involved in that case."
Kia did not respond to a request for comment, but in a statement Hyundai says it's developing a software update to protect the targeted vehicles, which should be available sometime next year.
