Woman says reckless driver ditched her stolen Kia in driveway of someone’s home after pursuit

CHARLOTTE — Officers with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department detained someone Thursday who recklessly drove a Kia Soul through traffic before ditching it at the end of a pursuit in the driveway of a north Charlotte home.

Chopper 9 Skyzoom was overhead when the Kia weaved through lanes of traffic along major roads and interstates in the city. CMPD’s Aviation Unit, “Snoopy,” was also tracking the car.

The driver sped through a neighborhood before pulling into the driveway of a home off Walden Ridge Drive, which is near Mount Holly-Huntersville Road. No CMPD units gave chase.

The accused car thief grabbed their backpack and ran into the woods. Sometime later, officers eventually arrived and detained the suspect. CMPD has not said if the person was arrested.

Channel 9 spoke with a woman who said the Kia was hers and it was stolen.

She said the car was stolen two weeks ago from Concord while she was on vacation.

The Kia owner said management at the apartments where she lives was getting the parking lot refurbished.

They offered to temporarily move the tenant’s vehicle, she said.

“They were painting in the parking area, like redoing it, so they would temporarily move your vehicle but at the time, I was on a cruise so I couldn’t move it myself,” said the Kia owner, who did not want to give her name.

That was when the Kia was stolen, she said.

“(I) didn’t hear anything until two weeks later when the cops called me today,” she said.

Despite being reunited with her beloved car, the victim would just rather move on.

“They don’t even know how to turn it off so I wouldn’t feel safe driving it home,” she said. “And it also has stolen tags on it. I don’t want to be in the vehicle.”

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