COLUMBUS, Ohio — Teens stealing cars in Columbus and surrounding areas -- is a problem that's getting worse.
Just this week – the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office said a 15-year-old was behind the wheel of a stolen Kia when it crashed into a Honda in Prairie Township near Hilliard-Rome Road.
The driver of the Honda was sent to the hospital and days later died from their injuries.
According to Chief Deputy Jim Gilbert from the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, "accident investigators are working with the Prosecutor's Office to determine what the appropriate felony vehicular homicide charge will be regarding the 15-year-old suspect. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victim's family."
"It's a big problem in our community,” said City Attorney Zach Klein.
Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein filed a lawsuit in February against Kia and Hyundai, claiming there was “negligence in producing millions of vehicles that lack industry-standard antitheft technology."
On Wednesday, he provided an update on where that stands today.
“The case got moved to California,” he said. “So it's consolidated with other governments that have sued Hyundai and Kia. we were one of the first cities to sue. Since then other cities have piled on. and it's consolidated in front of one judge right now. the good news is Kia and Hyundai tried to dismiss the case but as of a few weeks ago the judge ruled in our favor that the case is going to proceed."
But in some cases, Klein says juveniles who steal these cars are arrested, released, and caught again doing the same thing. He says the juvenile court system needs to change.
“I just think we have to think differently about how we are handling juvenile justice system when it comes to a small subset of kids that have no regard for the law that have lost their way and they need help."
There is no word on the names of those involved in Saturday’s crash.