‘I just feel violated’: Richmond woman looking to catch thieves who stole car as thefts continue to rise

RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) - Car thefts in Richmond this year are up more than 16% than last year, and unfortunately, Danielle Jordan has become one of the latest victims.

”I just felt like very violated because it’s my car. It’s like my day-to-day,” Jordan, who had her car stolen last Monday, said.

Jordan drives a Hyundai Sonata and has been parking it outside her apartment in Church Hill for the last few years without any problems.

While Richmond Police have not released data this year on how many of those stolen cars are Hyundais or Kias, they have taken to social media to alert the community about a spike in thefts.

”It’s definitely the TikTok trend,” Jordan said.

Viral videos showing how easy it is to start those types of cars without engine immobilizers have caused a national nightmare.

In March, Henrico Police say 37 Hyundais and Kias were stolen.

It’s where Jordan said her car was found a few days later after it was taken.

”I didn’t put gas in it the night before, so I knew they weren’t going to get far,” Jordan said.

Luckily for Jordan, the location where her car was stolen had security cameras that caught the whole crime on video.

In one part of the video, she said it looks like a whole operation with multiple people.

In less than a minute, her car was broken into and was driving down the road without the key in the ignition.

”They smashed the side window, and the police, as well as the towing company, said that the ignition is displaced,” Jordan said.

Jordan said she’s working with the towing company to pick her car up and take it to the dealership for an inspection.

But she says even if everything checks out, she’s unsure if she wants to keep it.

”I don’t know, like, who has been in the car, what they’ve done in the car, like anything else, I can’t see what’s happened to the car, so yeah, I feel very violated,” Jordan said.

Earlier this month, Hyundai and Kia settled a $200 million lawsuit over customer car thefts.

Richmond Police encourage drivers to use a steering wheel lock as an added layer of protection from potential thieves.

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