Illinois Valley Times

Illinois State Sen. Win Stoller (R-Germantown Hills) expressed disbelief at the news that Chicago has sued Kia and other manufacturers over car thefts, in an Aug. 25 Facebook post. The lawsuit was filed on Aug. 24 in the Cook County Circuit Court.

"Just when you think Chicago couldn’t get any more crazy, they come up with this," Sen. Stoller wrote in his Facebook post.

In his Facebook post, Stoller shared a link to an article by the Cook County Record reporting on the lawsuit. According to the article, “The lawsuit centers on the surge in car thefts in the past three years driven largely by the so-called 'Kia Boyz' phenomenon. These car thieves have used viral online TikTok video tutorials to exploit a flaw in a range of Kia and Hyundai vehicle models manufactured from 2011-2022, which ordinarily rely on physical keys to start the vehicle.” The city is asking for restitution to customers, payment to the city for unspecified costs, and fines for each alleged offense under the city ordinances, up to $10,000 per violation.

According to the lawsuit, “…for years, automakers Kia and Hyundai chose to forego (often simple) industry-standard, anti-theft technologies in many of their cars. As soon as people discovered their shortcomings, videos showing how to ‘hot-wire’ these cars went viral on the internet. Not surprisingly, thefts of Kia and Hyundai vehicles skyrocketed at record-setting rates in cities throughout the United States, including in Chicago. This rise in thefts led to a rise in reckless driving, motor vehicle accents, violent crimes, injuries, and property damage.” The fix for this to put immobilizers into these vehicles. Installation of these devices started more than a decade ago, but, Kia and Hyundai failed to install the electronic engine immobilizer in most of the vehicles sold between 2011 and 2022.

The city has known about this connection between online video tutorials and stolen Hyundai and Kia models, and has warned city residents of clusters of these thefts. These warnings date back to Oct. 2022, according to an ABC7 report from Oct. 25, 2022, when clusters of car thefts happened on the South Side of Chicago. One so-called cluster of thefts took place over six days, targeting Kia vehicles; the second was a four day stretch when eight Hyundai vehicles were stolen.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has faced derision after filing the lawsuit. A Fox News report published on Aug. 28 noted that even a Democrat Alderman from Chicago mocked Johnson. The outlet reported that Raymond Lopez said in an interview, "Clearly, we don't have a crime problem. We have a Kia problem in the city of Chicago, according to Mayor Johnson. The numbers speak for themselves – 104% increase from last year, a 234% increase in vehicle thefts from two years ago – but yet it's the car's fault."

Win Stoller is a state senator residing in Germantown Hills and was first elected to the Illinois Senate in 2021, according to the Illinois Senate. A Republican, his legislative experience includes serving on the Environment and Conservation Committee and Senate Higher Education Committee.