LORAIN, Ohio — As communities across Northeast Ohio continue to deal with a large uptick in carjackings involving Kia and Hyundai vehicles, police in Lorain say they have arrested nine individuals in connection with a local theft ring.
Authorities say the suspects — three adults and six juveniles — have ties to a criminal organization believed to be involved in roughly 50 successful or attempted vehicle thefts between May 6 and June 15. Detectives investigated the cases for weeks and eventually captured five suspects on East 37th Street on June 9 after finding an alleged stolen Hyundai in the driveway. Six days later, four more people were apprehended when another stolen car was found in an east side alley.
The three adult suspects have been identified as 19-year-old Nathaniel Bailey, 19-year-old Rafael Miranda, and 18-year-old Trenton Mielcarek. All face charges ranging from grand theft or attempted grand theft of a motor vehicle along with things like criminal damage or trespassing.
In addition, the six juveniles are all between the ages of 13 and 17, with all being from Lorain and all being charged with some form of complicity in the case. 3News normally does not name juvenile suspects if they are not charged as adults.
The Lorain Police Department says the investigation will continue and that additional charges might be filed. Chief Jim McCann also called on state legislators in Columbus to help "hold lawbreakers, specifically serious juvenile offenders accountable for their crimes and punish them accordingly."
"What we are currently doing is not working and innocent citizens are repeatedly being victimized by these criminals," McCann wrote in a statement.
The carjackings in Lorain represent a growing national trend, with thieves taking advantage of a technological loophole in Kia and Hyundai cars and stealing them with relative ease. In Cleveland, Mayor Justin Bibb has filed a lawsuit seeking damages from the automakers, and City Council has also called on his office to sue TikTok for allowing videos showing people how to steal the cars to be spread on social media.
Anyone with information regarding the thefts in Lorain is asked to immediately call Detective Sanders Sanchez at (440) 204-2105.