Kelsey Kellerhouse said this wasn’t the first time someone had stolen her Kia.
SAN ANTONIO — A family on San Antonio’s far West Side woke up early Wednesday morning to find their Kia Soul stolen then later spotted on camera being driven recklessly through their neighborhood.
Kelsey Kellerhouse, a mother of three, said her husband woke her up at 3:30 a.m. with the alarming news.
“It’s a real feeling of helplessness. I manage a business and they rely on me so not only not being able to get my children to school but not being able to be there for my center was really, really hard for me,” Kellerhouse said.
Kellerhouse called police and shared what happened on Nextdoor, which prompted neighbors to chime in with support and surveillance video.
“My neighbors actually caught footage of my Kia being driven through the neighborhood extremely recklessly. They were drifting and doing donuts,” Kellerhouse said. “It was horrifying. He could have crashed into people’s homes.”
Kellerhouse said a neighbor called 911 to report a reckless driver in the community of manufactured homes that morning. She noted a man or woman was spotted running away from the vehicle.
She learned at 10:30 a.m. that police had recovered the vehicle in her neighborhood. The ignition wiring was exposed. According to the SAPD incident report, a revolver inside the car was stolen but not recovered.
“It was a mess,” Kellerhouse said. “It went from feeling helpless to being very mad just because I do baby my car. It’s our means of transportation. It’s how I keep my kids safe.”
This marked the second time someone stole their 2016 Kia Soul. Kia and Hyundai thefts ramped up beginning in the later half of 2022, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NIBC).
According to the NIBC, the number of Kias and Hyundais stolen sharply increased from 1,207 in 2019 to 6,120 in 2022.
A TikTok video in 2022 showed how people could hot wire the vulnerable vehicles using a USB connector since certain models lacked immobilizer systems.
“Police did take a lot of fingerprints,” Kellerhouse said.
The Kellerhouse family has since invested in a steering wheel lock as one method of anti-theft protection.
“That’s the only thing we can do at this point until we can upgrade our vehicle.”
As of Thursday, no arrests have been made.