Couple ready to move after their Kia, Hyundai repeatedly targeted by thieves
A worker at Water Gremlin is blowing the whistle on what he says are systemic problems at the manufacturing plant.
By David Schuman
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MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — A Minneapolis couple says they’re ready to move away after their cars have been broken into and stolen several times in just the last few months.
Hayden Griswold discovered his Hyundai’s back window was smashed out again Friday. It’s the fifth time he says in the last six months.
“We don’t keep anything in here anymore,” Griswold said. “Of course it’s impossible to at this point once it’s happened so many times in both cars.”
His family’s other car, a Kia, wasn’t in front of their north Minneapolis home Sunday, because after being stolen and recovered for a second time, it’s waiting on repairs.
“It’s been sort of juggling both, one disaster after the other,” Griswold said.
Kias and Hyundais have been particularly vulnerable to thefts, and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison is looking at a possible lawsuit against the carmakers.
Owning both brands, Griswold says he feels like he rolled double snake eyes.
“The police officer showed me…how easy it is,” he said. “It’s really shocking. We were trying to get [the Kia] out of the ditch [where we found it], and he was like, ‘Yeah, I can start it up no problem,’ and he sure did with the cord.”
Griswold says he’s learned that a back window costs roughly $300-$400 to replace, and it’s usually not even worth making an insurance claim on, he says. He’s not sure yet how all this will impact his insurance rates.
Griswold estimates he’s paid up to $5,000 between deductibles and repairs. He’s had enough and wants to move out of Minneapolis.
“I mean, who lives like this, I mean really?” Griswold said. “When you have two that are just vulnerable and it keeps happening over and over, you have to do your best.”
The Griswolds have started a fundraiser to help pay for a move.
So far this year in Minneapolis, there have been 1,978 car thefts. That’s an 85% increase compared to this time last year, when there had been 1,066.
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