A 14-year-old boy allegedly stole and attempted to steal nearly 40 motor vehicles in a matter of weeks in the Plano area.
The Plano Police Department arrested the teenager. According to CBS News Texas, his identity was not made public because he is a minor. Most of the cars targeted were reportedly Hyundais and Kias.
“He was suspected of breaking into 38 cars. Some of them were attempted thefts, and some of them were actually stolen,” said Jennifer Chapman, a spokesperson for the Plano Police Department, Fox 4 KDFW reported.
Police apprehended the teen on July 6 and have since reportedly tied him to dozens of other incidents, noting a TikTok trend might have played a factor in the juvenile’s delinquency.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, a TikTok “challenge” was trending earlier in 2023, showing social media users how to hotwire Hyundai and Kia vehicles with a USB cord and a screwdriver.
“The juveniles are looking online to see how they can [steal] the vehicles, and they’re sharing it with each other just like they would any other social media platform,” Chapman told Fox 4, noting that auto thefts shot up in Plano by 15% over the last year.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, motor vehicle thefts have been increasing in North Texas, especially within Dallas city limits. The Dallas Police Department (DPD) reported 10,734 incidents in 2020, 11,938 incidents in 2021, and 13,417 in 2022. According to the most up-to-date verified statistics from DPD, there were 4,999 reported cases in the first four months of 2023, a 17% spike year over year.
More recent data on auto thefts in Dallas are currently not readily available. The City has claimed this is due to a ransomware attack that allegedly hit City servers in May.
Many auto thefts happen in Downtown Dallas, which has been affected by the police department’s current staffing shortage. DPD has gone without roughly 900 of the 4,000 officers recommended by a City document.
According to an analysis conducted by the Metroplex Civic and Business Association, Dallas police reported 23 times more auto thefts in Downtown Dallas than were reported in Fort Worth’s downtown area in March 2023. Downtown Fort Worth has a specialized police unit and private security guards patrolling the neighborhood, reportedly decreasing criminal activity in recent years.
