BALTIMORE — Anne Arundel County Police are investigating two attempted car thefts that happened in Glen Burnie overnight.
These are just the latest incidents in a rash of car thefts, carjackings, and attempted carjackings in this part of Maryland.
Most of the perpetrators are targeting vehicles made by Hyundai and Kia. Most of the time, those perpetrators aren’t even old enough to drive.
Police say that two juveniles smashed the windows of two Hyundai sedans and attempted to steal them from the 8100 block of Harold Court in Glen Burnie around 2 a.m. on Friday.
The teen suspects tried to run away when officers arrived at the site of the crime.
Officers caught up to them and arrested one 15-year-old boy from Middle River and a 16-year-old boy from Laurel, according to authorities.
A few hours later, around 4:30 a.m., officers responded to a report of shots fired in the 200 block of Woodhill Drive in Glen Burnie.
Police say someone caught a suspect breaking into their 2018 Kia sedan and chased after that person.
As they turned the corner, two more suspects appeared, and one of them fired off two rounds before all three of them ran away, according to authorities.
Neighbors say they’re concerned about the rise in car thefts in the area.
“You might as well get one of those car locks—a steering wheel lock on your vehicle,” Glen Burnie resident Darryl Thornton said. “Try to prevent what you can, so you won’t be the next victim. Because these kids, they don’t care. I don’t know who is raising them, they’re raising themselves.”
Last month, the City of Baltimore joined other cities in filing a lawsuit against Hyundai and Kia for “failing to equip their vehicles with industry-standard immobilization technology, which makes them easy to steal.
According to Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott’s office, over 575 Hyundai and Kia vehicles have been stolen in the city.