Self-proclaimed 'Kia Boy' pleads not guilty; bail set at $100,000 | ARC Seattle

We're going to dive right into the deep end. One of the self-proclaimed Kia boys appeared in court today. Eighteen-year-old Salem Kelly is charged with stealing eight cars, but court documents claim he's connected to many more thefts as well. Mo Hyder joins us this morning. Mo, you just got out of the courtroom. Tell us what happened inside there. Yes, Steve. Well, he pleaded not guilty to all the charges. Remember, he faces eight counts of possession of a stolen vehicle. As for what happens next, though, his bail has been set at $100,000, and the trial is set to begin on March 11th. The judge did instruct us not to show his face, and as for what happened inside the courtroom, everything was fairly fast. There was no dispute between his attorney and the judge either. And, Mo, I'm hoping you can break this one down for us. If prosecutors have connected Kelly to so many of these crimes, why is he only charged in eight of the thefts? Yeah, that's right, Cyrus. Those eight specific vehicles were found near his home, so that is the only concrete, intangible evidence they do have right now. Remember, he's been on law enforcement's radar for quite some time now. He's actually connected to all these thefts back in October all the way to early this year, early in January. Again, those are the only eight ones that he has been charged for because that's intangible evidence they do have. Now, they were able to arrest him earlier this month after they had enough probable cause for a search warrant. He was arrested near his home early this month. Mo, we have talked for months now about Hyundais and Kias being such a big target for thieves. I know often they're used in those crash-and-grab burglaries that we seem to report on almost every other day around here. Why are those two types of vehicles, those two makes, or models, I should say, such a big target for thieves? Yeah, Steve, we certainly see this has a common trend specifically in this region when it comes to break-ins. Well, it all boils down to the models specifically designed from 2011 all the way to 2021. They're easy to break into, and also the ignition can be charged or turned on with a USB. Of course, USBs are easily accessible everywhere. Now, that's why the companies like Kia and Honda are actually going the extra mile and making it harder to actually break in those cars. So we'll hopefully see that number go down when it comes to thefts of these two specific type of cars, though. Now, according to SPD, though, just to break down the numbers for you, as of July of 2022, they've seen a 620% jump when it comes to thefts of both these types of vehicles. So hopefully when the manufacturer makes some changes, we could see that number go down. Thank you, Mo, for breaking that down and for being in that courtroom today. So a lot of people were talking about this, Steve. When it comes to car thefts and crime in general, people on social media really just want to see accountability. We saw a trend from commenters writing, unfortunately, he won't get any jail time, and bet our court system lets him out. Now let's get to our poll question again. You can vote by pointing your cell phone's camera at that QR code you see there to the right. We're asking what measures have you taken to protect your car from theft? 41% of you say you keep it locked, and that just went up in the past hour or so. 33% say they never leave valuables inside. 17% say they have an anti-theft device. 9% of you say nothing. Remember, just weigh in there by pointing your phone at that QR code.