TikTok challenge blamed for car thefts

By Lauren Keene Enterprise staff writer

Davis residents may have fallen victim to another TikTok challenge, this one involving car break-ins and thefts.

Back in July, someone posted a video on the social media platform showing a vehicle being hot-wired with a USB connector — a vulnerability that exists among many Kia and Hyundai vehicles. The challenge, which encourages TikTok users to post videos of successful thefts and subsequent joyrides, is believed to be behind a rash of local thefts and break-ins.

“This is a national trend — it’s all over the place,” Davis police Lt. Dan Beckwith said.

Locally, police received reports of 11 Kia and Hyundai thefts and four attempts between Jan. 15 and 24, involving a models built between 2011 and 2019.

No arrests had been made until early Tuesday morning, when someone reported vehicles racing at the Walnut Park soccer fields in South Davis around 4 a.m.

“When officers got there, they saw car lights on the field and noticed people running from the vehicles,” Beckwith said. Both cars had been reported stolen — a Kia out of Davis and a Hyundai from Dixon.

Officers apprehended one suspect, identified as 18-year-old Douglas Moriarty Jr. of Woodland. An investigation to identify any accomplices is ongoing.

In Woodland, police there said they recovered a 2019 Hyundai Tucson stolen from Davis on the morning of Jan. 24 after receiving a report of a suspicious vehicle in Everman Park.

“It appears the suspect(s) drove the Hyundai around the park several times before crashing into a park bench,” Sgt. Victoria Danzl said.