Auto thefts in Bellingham spiked in 2022 before dropping to a four-year low in 2023, according to data from the city’s crime dashboard and a state-funded auto theft task force.
Whatcom County followed a similar trend while thefts throughout Washington dipped only slightly after the 2022 surge, remaining significantly higher than in prior years.
Without a crime analysis at the department, Lt. Claudia Murphy said there was no way for Bellingham Police to know for sure what might have caused the rapid recovery while the rest of the state continues to struggle with inflated auto theft numbers.
However, experts point to three primary factors that led to the 2022 spike: changes in police pursuit laws, TikTok challenges, and an exodus of officers from law enforcement in response to the COVID pandemic and police reforms.
Among those keenly aware of the challenges officers face in combating auto theft is Sgt. Jeff Carroll with the Puget Sound Auto Theft Task Force. The five-detective task force serving Pierce and southern King County is funded through grants from the Washington Auto Theft Prevention Authority, established by the Legislature in 2007. No such task force exists in Whatcom County.
“Our mission is basically to go after the prolific offenders and get them successfully prosecuted,” Carrol said.
Of the $136 million worth of vehicles stolen in Washington in 2022, about $122.7 million of them were recovered, according to state-level FBI data.
Pierce County had the most significant increase in auto thefts in the state starting midway through 2021, going from eight to 10 cars a day to about 36, Carrol said. Those numbers far exceed thefts in Whatcom County, which even at the height of the surge in 2022 were less than two a day.
These differences can be tied to Pierce County having larger, denser populations and higher rates of juvenile crime than Whatcom County, Carroll explained.
A little more than 8% of the arrests for auto theft in the state in 2022 were juveniles, according to the FBI data.
Social media gets kids outside, stealing cars
The recent influx of juveniles into the world of stealing cars has been largely powered by social media, specifically the so-called “Kia Boyz Challenge” on TikTok.
“If you look at different places around the country, when the TikTok challenge got its feet, there were definite spikes; in particular, Kia and Hyundai getting stolen,” Carroll said.
Starting in late 2021, viral social media posts showed thieves using a screwdriver and a USB charging cord to steal certain models of Kias and Hyundais within seconds. Because some models of these cars starting in 2011 did not have an immobilizer — a theft prevention mechanism — installed, thieves simply had to remove the steering column cover, remove the ignition cylinder and use the USB plug to turn a rectangular nub to start the engine.
The challenge started to gain traction in Washington in 2022 as youths attempted to steal cars to show off for their friends and online followers, Carroll said.
About 20 years ago, police departments had a pretty clear picture of the auto-theft scene — they knew who the handful of prolific thieves were and where cars usually got dumped, Carroll said.
Social media changed that.
“We’ve probably identified over 200 juveniles that have stolen or been part of the theft of a Kia or Hyundai,” Carroll said.
Rairdon’s Hyundai of Bellingham — along with dealerships across the nation — continues to encourage customers with vulnerable vehicles to come in and have the issue addressed.
Cylinder locks are being replaced and new software has recently been rolled out, said Peter Fitzpatrick, the general sales manager at the dealership.
In May 2023, Hyundai settled a class-action lawsuit for $200 million, according to Reuters. The settlement covered Kia and Hyundai owners with 2011 through 2022 models that have a traditional key ignition system.
While the Puget Sound Auto Theft Task Force did not have data for the most frequently stolen vehicles in Bellingham in 2022, they did have the 2023 data — only one in the top 10 was a Hyundai, none were Kias.
The most frequently stolen cars in Bellingham by make and model in 2023 were:
- Honda Accord
- Honda motorcycle
- Honda Civic
- Hyundai Elantra
- Yamaha motorcycle
- Subaru Legacy
- Toyota Camry
- Ford F150
- Chevy Silverado
- Subaru Forester
Legislation and new restrictions on police chases
As part of police reforms following the killing of George Floyd in 2020, the Washington Legislature instituted sweeping changes to law enforcement practices and procedures. Among those were new restrictions on when officers were allowed to pursue suspected criminals.
Vehicle chases for property theft, such as stolen vehicles, and other lower-level crimes were banned. The standard for police pursuit also was raised from “reasonable suspicion” to “probable cause” for many crimes, which further hindered police efforts, Murphy said.
“Once that happened and the bad guys realized that police were no longer going to continue after them, we saw a huge spike,” Carroll said.
Murphy considered the changes “very debilitating” when it came to arresting car thieves.
The changes in pursuit laws forced the task force to switch tactics, relying more on surveillance technology and the cultivation of sources to build cases against prolific car thieves.
Facing significant pressure, lawmakers passed an initiative to roll back the controversial 2021 police pursuit law on March 4 this year. The amendments, set to come into effect in June, will restore authority to officers to pursue suspects when there is reasonable suspicion that the person has violated the law.
Consequences of a theft
Because car theft is a property crime, the consequences for being caught are extremely limited, Murphy said. This can be particularly true for youth.
The low- to no-consequence situation for juveniles is a slippery slope. Depending on the youth’s age some prosecutors might choose not even to take the case and the child is often released to their caregiver without spending any time in juvenile detention. Some of these juveniles are starting to use stolen vehicles for other crimes, such as shoplifting, armed robberies or smash-and-grab burglaries, Carroll said.
“So that kind of elevated from showing off and stunting to committing these violent crimes,” Carroll said.
While the so-called Kia Boyz have dominated headlines since, more “traditional” types of car thieves remain active in the state. These include people who are stealing three or four vehicles to strip parts and create a new vehicle; those stealing cars with higher performance parts that can be pulled and used in street racing cars; and those using them simply for transportation. In some rare situations, cars are stolen and sold in foreign markets.
“High-end cars are occasionally never recovered because they’re sent off in shipping containers overseas or down across the border of Mexico,” Carroll said. “But a vast majority of them are recovered.”
What vehicles are targeted by a thief often depends on what particular tools and knowledge they have, explained Murphy, noting that prolific offenders often are dialed into a specific type of vehicle.
Even though auto theft numbers were down in 2023, Murphy encouraged residents to take common-sense precautions to protect their cars. Police suggest residents park vehicles in well-lit areas, lock them and remove valuables.
Isaac Stone Simonelli is CDN’s enterprise/investigations reporter; reach him at isaacsimonelli@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 127.
