Jay’mi Vazquez – News Editor
University Police have been investigating the theft of three motor vehicles on campus during the last few weeks.
The recent thefts have taken place in the Wintergreen Parking Garage and North campus, all taking place in the month of November.
Some of the stolen cars were late model Hyundai Elantras. New Haven and Hamden police have been seeing a trend of Hyundai and Kia vehicles being stolen in the last few months.
Campus Police Chief Kenneth Rahn said he always encourages students to utilize the Livesafe app and report suspicious activities to prevent any type of theft on campus.
“For vehicles on campus, we try to be very visible in the parking lots,” Rahn said.
Rahn said that in the event of a vehicle being stolen, an officer will take the report from a student. From there, the details are sent to a national database to try and locate the vehicle. If the vehicle is found, the student will be contacted with where it has been located and towed to.
Rahn said that a defect in the base Kia models from the years 2011 through 2022 is the cause of these vehicles being targeted by car thieves. Hyundai models from 2015 through 2020 also have a similar defect in their ignition system, making them easier to steal.
“We have a program here where we obtained initially 120 steering wheel locks. We’re almost through those, so we’re going to get another 120,” Rahn said.
