New Orleans police are asking the public to help identify and locate a suspect.
Appeal Seeks Help Identifying Suspect
A New Orleans Police Department Facebook post begins with the prompt “Do you recognize this...”
NOPD is asking anyone who recognizes the suspect to come forward.
Sharing Information
Residents with information about the vehicle can contact NOPD.
A Citywide Pattern of Kia and Hyundai Thefts
The appeal lands against the backdrop of a years-long surge in New Orleans auto theft that has hit Kias and Hyundais especially hard. Vehicle thefts in the city climbed from 3,150 in 2016 to roughly 4,850 in 2022, about 10% higher than the year before, according to nola.com. That reporting found Kias and Hyundais made up 1,189 of those stolen vehicles in 2022 alone, nearly a quarter of the citywide total, with almost all of those thefts concentrated in the year's final six months.
The spike traced back to viral social media videos circulating in July 2022 that showed how certain keyed Kia and Hyundai models built between 2010 and 2021 could be stolen with minimal effort, and police believed those videos were a major driver of the increase, per the same nola.com report.
Recovery Odds and Police Response
There is some reason for optimism in past data: about 56% of Kias and Hyundais stolen since July had later been recovered, compared with roughly 44% of other vehicles, the outlet reported. Louisiana State Police's five-person auto theft team assisted NOPD with 282 stolen vehicle recoveries and 25 auto-theft arrests in 2022. Those figures provide context for NOPD's appeal for help locating the vehicle.
