RPD searching for driver after stolen Kia crashes into home

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Rochester Police are searching for the driver of a stolen Kia that crashed into a home at the corner of Morningside Park and Somerton Street early Friday evening.

Nicholas Brown said he watched the entire scene unfold right in front of his eyes.

“I heard a big crash at the end of the street. They turned the corner, they had their foot to the floor. I also heard the engine flooring. and right at this corner he tried a break in, seen a dead end sign, and went to go make a turn and then just bailed on it and went straight into the house,” Brown said.

Neighbors said that a Ring doorbell video taken across the street shows one of the suspects returning to the scene shortly after 6:30 p.m. to collect items out of the car, before driving off and throwing a drink at someone standing on the side of the road.

Jordan Porter-Lemon was next door when the crash happened and said that he never expected to see something like this happen on his block.

“You never think that something like this is a car theft or an intense situation like that, so we really came out here to make sure everything was alright. But it was apparent very early that something more serious had gone on,” Porter-Lemon said.

But if you ask neighbors like Ben Pearl, whose Kia was stolen on the same street a month ago, it’s a situation that clearly needs to be addressed.

“I think it’s more of a manufacturer problem for not having the immobilizers in the car, it makes it easy to steal, ya know, and even if you have one of the ones that has the anti-theft, they are still being broken into because they are trying to want to steal,” Pearl said.