Maple Heights musician frustrated after Kia stolen with drum equipment inside

"My parents put me in drum lessons at the age of 8," 32-year-old Aaron Smith says. He's been finding the beat ever since.

Smith and his drums have been all over Northeast Ohio. On Monday, he left some of his equipment in his 2020 Kia Sportage, and it sat in the car as he took his wife to dinner at LULO.

He parked it at West 9th Street and St. Clair Avenue. Following a few hours inside the restaurant, the couple came back out shortly after 10.

"Somebody stole the car," Smith recalled, laughing at his dilemma. "I don't even know how else to really put it. I was shocked; we were shocked."

Unfortunately, Smith's car is a model that has been popular with car thieves. Affected Kias became eligible for a software patch in early 2023 which introduced an "ignition kill" feature. Smith says his vehicle had this feature, yet it was still stolen.

"I don't care how advanced the technology is, as far as the security system is in the car," he remarked. "It's still a Kia, so it's still a target."

Lydia Esparra reports. --

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