Middletown and other communities see uptick in car thefts by teenagers

Another stolen car and police pursuit in May ended with a police cruiser hit and an officer injured.

Middletown Police Chief Earl Nelson believes it’s one group or multiple groups of teenagers, aged 13-18, who are behind the thefts.

It’s not only Middletown, though. Communities including Monroe, Franklin and West Chester have also seen an increase in car thefts.

“We’re collaborating with everyone, we’re doing intelligence with a lot of different agencies to figure out if we’re dealing with the same people or different groups of people,” Nelson said.

Nelson said it started last year and is starting to pick up again.

“A lot of individuals...have been targeting Hyundais and Kias based off a social media trend,” he said.

Associated Press reported in 2023 on the uptick in thefts, writing the trend teaches people “how to start the cars with USB cables and exploit a security vulnerability in some models sold in the U.S. without engine immobilizers.”

Most cars have engine immobilizers, which prevents the engine from starting unless the key is present, as a standard feature.

Since then, juveniles have started targeting cars other than Hyundai and Kia models.

“They’re coming in groups of four or five and walking around different neighborhoods and different cities up and down I-75,” Nelson said.

He said many of the cars have been recovered, but once the thieves make it out of the city, it’s up to another agency to find those cars.

To dissuade car thieves, Middletown police added more patrols in high-risk areas, like the Sawyer’s Mill subdivision on the east side of Middletown, which Nelson said has been hit the hardest.

Since Middletown’s east side is growing rapidly, police have taken steps to increase patrols and coverage of those areas.

A new police substation in the former fire station on Dixie Highway is expected to open this year.

“As this area grows, we need to...increase our staffing so that each pocket of the city gets equal police coverage,” Nelson said.

The department currently has around 50 patrol officers, though the budget allows 88 patrol officers. Six patrol officers currently cover the city during a shift, though it will soon increase to nine.

“It’s a good start,” Nelson said. “The biggest deterrent of any crime is visible patrol.”

More officers have been added and will be added before the end of the year.

Increased patrols have led to car chases, apprehensions and arrests and a general decline in thefts.

In the past three years, Middletown has seen larger car theft numbers than nearby communities:

In 2025, there have been 101 car thefts, according to police records.

Comparatively, Fairfield saw 83 car thefts in 2022, 81 in 2023 and 81 in 2024. In 2025, there have been 38 car thefts so far.

Who is profiting?

The reason for the difference is “hard to say,” according to Nelson.

A thief who drives a stolen car from one side of the city to the other is recorded as a car theft, though the car is recovered.

Recent car thefts seem to be for profit, though, according to Nelson.

“We don’t know who’s profiting from them, but we believe it’s for profit,” he said. “We don’t typically find these cars later.”

Staying safe

Police urge community members to lock car doors, secure windows and not leave valuables or keys inside.

Nelson said the recent group of car thieves were not breaking windows, but targeting unlocked cars with keys left inside.

Citizens who see suspicious activity are encouraged to call the emergency or non-emergency police line.

“We just want that phone call,” Nelson said. “We can’t be everywhere at once, so we just need to be pointed in the right direction.”