PORTLAND, Ore. — A North Portland woman was stunned to learn her stolen SUV was involved in a multi-vehicle crash on I-405 on Tuesday night.
The Multnomah County Sheriff's Office reported a man, 30-year-old Kyle Voltz, tried to evade a transit police, drove the wrong way on I-405, and crashed into multiple cars near the Northwest Glisan exit.
The crash injured Voltz, his passenger, another driver, and a child in a different car. All four were transported to a hospital for treatment.
Laura Lacayo Gilman, who shared a photo of her beaming shortly after purchasing her Kia Sorento last year, said she was devastated to see photos of her stolen SUV as part of the crash.
"The fact that it was in a chase, and it did go down the wrong way on a freeway, and it did injure a child — it infuriates me," Lacayo Gilman said.
She said her car has been stolen from outside of her home on four separate occasions over the past two years.
The first three times, she said it was an older Subaru that she drove that thieves stole. She replaced that Subaru with the Kia.
Lacayo Gilman said she has spent thousands of dollars making her cars "theft-proof,", including adding steering wheel locks.
This time, she realized that Kia and Hyundai vehicles have increasingly been the target of car thieves.
"This all comes down to Kias being so easy to steal, and the fact that Kia has not done enough about it," she said.
Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum recently joined a group of 22 other Attorneys General, asking Kia and Hyundai to be accountable for their cars’ high rates of theft due to a lack of anti-theft immobilizers.
The letter lists stats from various cities — describing the numbers as "truly shocking" — and the AGs ask Kia and Hyundai to take “swift and comprehensive action” to fix how easy their cars are to poach.
Lacayo Gilman said a recall to fix the cars would be appropriate.
"Kia’s negligence has turned my car into a weapon and that’s unacceptable," she said.