According to SAPD, 272 Kias and 178 Hyundais have been stolen in 2023, making them the first and second most common type of car stolen in San Antonio this year. Credit: Shutterstock / Daniel Judzura

A San Antonio woman’s complaint in the Nextdoor app that her 2016 Hyundai Sonata has been stolen twice in four months has sparked a contentious online debate about the cause of the thefts.

Some people responding to North Side resident Cynthia Cruz’s complaint blamed her misfortune on the cite-and-release rule that would be codified under the San Antonio Justice Charter, a proposal that will go before voters in May as Proposition A.

Others got in jabs at Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales, whose office adopted a cite-and-release policy for low-level offense shortly after he first elected. Even though SAPD has worked with the DA on the policy, the online critics argue it’s triggering runaway crime that Prop A will only make worse.

“Vote no on Prop A. Read this charter,” North Central resident Lisa Talley commented on Cruz’s post. “Thieves will just continue this behavior until our DA starts prosecuting them and giving them stiffer repercussions.”

However, San Antonio police say a viral TikTok trend — not cite-and-release — has spurred a recent upswing in thefts of Kias and Hyundais, such as Cruz’s. A rash of online videos show how thieves can exploit a flaw in those two auto brands to rip them off using just a USB cable.

In an email to the Current, an SAPD spokesperson said 272 Kias and 178 Hyundais have been stolen in 2023, making them the first and second most common type of car  ripped off in San Antonio this year.

Indeed, Cruz herself blamed the TikTok videos for the repeated theft of her car when speaking to KENS 5 last week.

Just the same, many commenters on Cruz’s post continued to rail against the DA and Prop A.

But there’s another problem.

The San Antonio Justice Charter would only codify cite-and-release for some misdemeanors, including theft of property worth less than $750. Given that dollar limit, those caught stealing automobiles would still go to jail, regardless of whether the Justice Charter passes.

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This article appears in Feb 22 – Mar 7, 2023.

Michael Karlis is a multimedia journalist at the San Antonio Current, whose coverage in print and on social media focuses on local and state politics. He is a graduate of American University in Washington,...