Georgian teens involved in high-speed chase after allegedly stealing Hyundai car using USB cable: Police

A 13-year-old driver and a 16-year-old passenger led Georgia deputies on a high-speed chase after they allegedly used a viral technique and stole a Hyundai Elantra car with a USB cord, police say.

Metro Atlanta police are warning Hyundai and Kia owners after car thefts spike, with police reporting three thefts over the weekend.

Police have linked the sharp rise in car thefts to viral videos on social media teaching people how to start cars with USB cables and exploiting a security vulnerability in some of the Hyundai and Kia vehicles sold in the United States without immobilizer, a standard feature on most vehicles. cars since the 1990s that prevented the engine from starting unless the key was present.

On Sunday, May 21, the Coweta County Sheriff’s Office was responding to a 911 call for an unrelated report that someone was trying to break into cars, when he attempted to stop a white Hyundai Elantra .

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Police later learned that the car had been stolen by unusual suspects aged 13 and 16.

Authorities said the unnamed 13-year-old driver refused to stop and led deputies in a high-speed chase, up to 120 miles an hour. The inexperienced teenager nearly hit the patrol car head-on, police said.

Body camera footage shows the eventual arrest of the 13- and 16-year-olds who tried to evade arrest after stealing a white Hyundai Elantra. (Coweta County Sheriff’s Office)

Dash cam footage showed deputies eventually using a maneuver to stop the stolen car in its tracks. The suspected thieves tried to evade arrest, but body camera footage shows deputies quickly pursuing the teenagers and arresting them.

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Both were handed over to juvenile authorities and face charges of car theft, felony hit and run and attempted escape as well as entering cars.

A general image of a white Hyundai Elantra. The two teenagers stole a white Hyundai Elantra using a USB cable. (Moscow Police Department)

Hyundai said problems with stolen vehicles have gotten so bad in the Atlanta area that they are sending letters to some owners notifying them of the thefts.

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The company said the free repairs only apply to certain models of Hyundai vehicles. The letter said the company would fix the car’s alarm and ignition logic, as well as apply window stickers warning thieves that the cars were safer.