Polensek Introduces Legislation to Amp Up Penalties on Parents of Curfew-Breaking Teens as Kia and Hyundai Thefts Continue

Owning a Kia or Hyundai of certain years. Congratulations, it was stolen while you were reading this. Credit: Ryan Krull

Matt Freeman was on way to work when, at 7 in the morning on May 19th, he realized his car was missing from the spot he parked it at on Prospect. He scoured the garage, thinking he might’ve misremembered which spot exactly. But the shattered window glass on the ground was telling: Freeman’s 2019 Kia Forte was stolen, joining the 3,100 others stolen in the city in the last year.

Cleveland police, would later confirm to Freeman that his silver Kia was nabbed by teenagers. A day later, it was found on Halle Ave., being driven “erratically,” the report read, by a teenage girl, as children played nearby on a jungle gym.

“It’s frustrating. I’ve been frustrated for three months now over the situation,” Freeman, 34, who works in sales in Westlake, told Scene. “I don’t know. It almost seems like there’s no rules in the world, that these kids are living how they want to live. And nothing else matters to them.”

Freeman’s referring to the Kia Boyz, shorthand for those — some adults, but increasingly teenagers — who boost Kias and Hyundais after a USB hack went viral on TikTok.

There are many problems at hand, but one of increasing paramount is what to do with offenders, some of whom are as young as 11 or 12. And their parents.

Recent legislation, introduced at City Council’s marathon meeting last Wednesday by Mike Polensek, seeks higher legal penalties for parents and guardians of teens who are caught breaking curfew — 11 p.m. for 15-16 year-olds, and 9:30 p.m. for 13-14 year-olds.

It would raise the penalty for parents from a “minor misdemeanor for the first offense to a 4th degree misdemeanor with up to a $250 fine and up to 30 days in jail;” and raise the penalty “from a 4th degree misdemeanor for a second or subsequent offense to a 3rd degree misdemeanor with up to a $500 fine and up to 60 days in jail.”

A week prior, on August 9, Councilman Kris Harsh hosted a slew of frustrated neighbors in Old Brooklyn, shortly after four teenagers speeding down Pearl Road at 90+ mph in a stolen car collided with, and killed on impact, 21-year-old Janet Reyes. Another woman in her vehicle was in critical condition in the days after the crash.

Attendees at the meeting, like Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Mike O’Malley, criticized the CPD for not fully enforcing Cleveland’s curfew law.

“Parents, you have to keep an eye on your children,” County Prosecutor Michael O’Malley told Old Brooklyn residents, according to News5 reportage. “You have to make sure where they’re at. That’s on you.”

Two of the four suspects in the Old Brooklyn crash case were already on probation for previous offenses. All four were under 18. One has been indicted on aggravated murder and vehicular homicide charges.

Ever since March, when the City of Cleveland filed a lawsuit against Kia and Hyundai, there’s been few legal wins or sure fixes. On March 29th, USAFacts found that nearly 67 percent of all cars stolen in Cleveland from October to December 2022 were of the Kia and Hyundai models targeted by thieves—1,203 vehicles combined. A stat only second to Chicago’s.

For the most part, the state has maintained a relative shoulder shrug approach to deflecting the Kia sprees, placing the onus on localities. On Wednesday, as Polensek defended his parental slap on the wrist, Gov. Mike DeWine was in town to tout state intervention in Cleveland with additional officers and searches. .

“The age of our offenders continues to drop,” he said.

Though it’s hard to separate thief from theft, Freeman finds it hard to contemplate too long on the apparent crisis behind the May theft of his Kia Forte. As a headache persisted long after: broken windows, messed-up suspension and bad transmission that totaled $6,700 in repairs. (Insurance, Freeman said, “covered most of it.”)

“It’s under lease through next May,” he said. “At this point, I can’t see myself getting another Kia.”

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