Kia owner at center of Garfield Heights police chase says SUV was stolen for 3rd time after upgrades

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - It was supposed to be a simple fix, to stop Kia thieves in their tracks, but a Cleveland couple who already had their SUV stolen twice are outraged, telling 19 News the anti-theft upgrade didn’t prevent it from happening a third time.

Jackie Oliver of Cleveland says early one morning last week she looked out at her driveway and her 2020 Kia Sportage was gone.

The SUV was stolen for a third time even though the local Kia dealership told Oliver and her fiance and business partner, Edward Loukas, the car could not be stolen without the keys.

“My car should have shut down,” Oliver said. “They told us when they put that module on in June of 2023 that it wouldn’t be able to be stolen without the key, period. If they don’t have the key it won’t start. That’s what we were told. But was that the case, apparently not.”

Loukas says he’s fed up.

“I’ll never buy a Kia again. I will never buy a Kia again,” said Loukas. “I don’t care if they give me one. I won’t accept it.”

The couple showed 19 News the proof that the anti-theft device was installed on their 2020 Kia Sportage and we even checked Kia’s website, using the couple’s vin number with their permission.

The Kia site confirms their vehicle did have the upgrades.

Sadly this time, the couple’s SUV was totaled.

It ended up at the center of a police chase when officers spotted the stolen SUV in Garfield Heights and chased it into Maple Heights, where the suspects crashed into a bus shelter.

Two innocent people were injured along with the three suspects who were also arrested.

“It’s been one thing after another, and it’s not just my car being stolen, it’s the nightmare that comes with it,” Oliver said.

The nightmare Oliver is referring to includes people who are carjacked for a Kia at gunpoint, and speeding stolen cars that have killed several innocent victims when the car thieves try to escape police.

The Cleveland couple tells 19 News they have also been forced to be thousands of dollars for rental cars and were forced to wait months for their recovered Kia to be fixed.

Oliver even says they were denied car insurance for months because the Kia Boyz crimes were a nationwide problem that cost insurance companies a lot of money.

When someone finally agreed to insure the couple, Oliver says they had to pay increased insurance for crimes that were no fault of their own.

“$160 more a month. That’s how much more,” said Oliver.

Ironically, Kia America was in town this weekend, working with a number of local car dealerships to install anti-theft devices for customers in a drive-through style format.

A spokesperson for Kia America tells 19 News, “We have upgraded close to 1.1 million vehicles since February of 2023, but we are aware of no more than four or five attempted thefts after the upgrades.”

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