One of the recurring choruses of TikTok’s comments sections is “hoping the algorithm brings me back.” If you routinely use the app and come across a juicy story, you often wish for a follow-up or a “Part Two” from the creator.
Fortunately for many users, one person’s TikTok was able to receive a response from one individual who was the victim in the viral story. A TikToker named Isaiah (@_._isaiah) recorded a video of a Nissan Altima at the Houston Galleria Mall missing its four wheels, and thanks to TikTok, the theft victim responded.
“I’m at the mall and I just so happen to look over…look…look at their car,” Isaiah says, noting how the vehicle has been put up on what appears to be cinderblocks. All of the vehicle’s tires have been stripped clean off of the Nissan.
“Oh my gosh,” the says walking around the passenger’s side, zooming into the lugnuts that were left on the ground. “B*tch, oh my gosh.”
@_._isaiah I feel so bad for whoever car this is
♬ original sound – _._isaiah
As he continues to move around and record the vehicle he notices that the situation is worse than it originally looked: The front of the Nissan sedan appears to have dipped forward so that the bare rotors are resting against the pavement of the mall parking lot.
How common are auto thefts in Houston?
According to the Houston Chronicle, auto thefts in the major Texas city increased by 16% in 2023. The outlet writes, “Between 2014 and 2022, the rate of vehicles stolen per 100,000 people rose from 215.4 to 282.7, according to national crime data from the FBI.”
Local Houston news outlet KPRC 2 stated on May 9, 2024, that, “Last year in Houston alone, thieves stole about 55 vehicles a day, that’s more than 2 every hour,” before listing basic car theft protection measures such as built-in car alarms and remote locking systems, along with “The Club” which a reporter for the outlet stated was making a comeback. However, they went on to highlight how an auto shop appears to have neglected to lock the car doors of vehicles while they were at a repair shop, giving thieves a carte blanche car stealing experience.
When it comes to car tire thefts, however, some can carry out these operations in Olympic-level timing. (Well, if being an automotive parts thief was an event at the summer games.) Three months before the Houston auto shop car theft, a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania resident spoke to Fox 29 Philadelphia about the moment she stepped outside to see her Toyota sedan propped up on milk crates with all of her tires missing.
Typically, there’s a tool one could have on them to help protect their car’s tires from getting stolen: A wheel lock key. These locked lugnuts require a special attachment to remove the tire completely from the vehicle, and oftentimes they will be packaged into the tire changing kit, or in the glovebox of a vehicle.
In Isaiah’s video, the vehicle that was the target of the tire theft was a Nissan Altima, which, according to The Zebra, is the seventh most stolen car in America between 2010 to 2020. But some folks thought it was in especially poor taste of the thieves to steal from someone who drives an Altima, as they’re considered “affordable” budget option whips.
“Taking the wheels off an Altima is so trifling,” someone commented.
One person said the crime was indicative of how “ghetto” the Houston Galleria Mall has become, writing, “The galleria so ghetto now.”
While another wrote, “Omg i just saw the owner video and it was a rental.”
As it turned out, the person who rented the vehicle that was put up on bricks, April Davis (@april_davis0820) spotted the viral TikTok online and uploaded a response of her own where she wrote, “This is how Houston welcomed us.”
@april_davis0820 Replying to @April Davis this is how Houston welcomed us. #houston ♬ original sound – April Davis
The victim’s experience
She recorded her response to one of the comments on Isaiah’s clip, sharing her experience.
“So y’all, I’m in Houston… visiting,” she says. “We wasn’t even in the Galleria y’all, for an hour, probably 45 minutes…We came back out to our rental looking like this.”
She gets out of one vehicle to walk to the rental that had its tires removed, and lugnuts scattered on the ground.
“On bricks,” she says, shutting an open door on the vehicle. “This is what we came out to y’all in Houston, Texas, literally…all four tires and put them on bricks. Happy Birthday weekend to me.”
Users who responded to her video seemed to have differing opinions on the phenomenon being a hallmark of the Houston commuting experience. One person wrote that this is par the course for the city: “Welcome to Houston baby. This is why all of our tires have locks!!”
Another replied, “I lived in Houston my whole life and I NEVERRRRR.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Nissan via email, and April and Isaiah via TikTok comment.
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