The Charlotte-Mecklenburg police revealed that a teenager died in an accident early Sunday morning and would have been participating in a trick first seen on social media Tik Tok.
How did the young man who stole a car in Charlotte die for a Tik Tok challenge?
According to him Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD), a 2015 Kia Optima was reported stolen on March 24 in the Steele Creek area.
Two days later, approximately 10 minutes from where the car was reported stolen, a 15-year-old boy crashed the car on South Tryon Street and died at the scene.
The police said that a popular TikTok challenge has youngsters stealing Kia and Hyundai carsand since it began last summer, police have seen a tremendous increase in thefts involving those brands.
Of the From January 1 to February 12, almost 700 vehicles were stolen in Charlottemore than half of which were Kias or Hyundais.
To be exact, 355 stolen Kias and Hyundais reported during that time period, an increase of 1,265 percent over the same period in 2022, when only 26 such incidents were reported.
CMPD said that the five main models of Kia and Hyundai selected this year have been:
- Hyundai Elantra
- Hyundai Sonata
- Kia Optima
- Kia Forte
- Kia Soul
Charlotte has seen a spike in vehicle thefts in recent months
Almost all stolen vehicles are from the years 2011-2020. Also, some cars Kia and Hyundai they have been stolen in as little as 30 seconds due to a so-called challenge, which uses a USB cable and sometimes a screwdriver to steal the vehicles.
CMPD said that before the social media trend began, the city was averaging 54 carjackings per week for all vehicles.
New data from 2023 shows that the average number of car thefts increased to a average of 113 vehicles per week for all vehicles.
The increase in thefts caused by the tiktok challenges raises the question of raising children and adolescents during the era of social media trends.
