A stolen Kia Sportage with New Jersey plates caused a serious chain of events in New York City over the weekend, leaving officers injured, a teen driver shot, and his passenger facing a weapons charge. It is the kind of story that starts with a license plate reader doing its job and ends with a lot of paperwork for a lot of people. The incident unfolded on Sunday evening and stretched from Washington Heights into the Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx before authorities wrapped things up at the hospital.
Police say the Kia had been reported stolen in the Bronx just one day prior to the confrontation. A heads-up went out around 5:25 p.m. Sunday when officers were alerted to the vehicle traveling through Washington Heights. From there, a license plate reader caught it crossing the University Heights Bridge, and NYPD aviation took over tracking duties from the air. At that point, the car’s options were narrowing fast.
Members of the NYPD’s Community Response Team located the Kia heading east on East Fordham Road near Cedar Avenue. Six unmarked police vehicles moved in and boxed the car in, which, under most circumstances, is a fairly clear signal that the situation is over. The 18-year-old driver disagreed. Rather than comply with orders to exit the vehicle, he attempted to drive away, ramming into several officers and a sergeant in the process.
One officer climbed onto the vehicle and discharged his firearm, striking the driver in the arm. The driver, the sergeant, and several other officers were all transported to nearby hospitals, and according to the NYPD, all are expected to recover. The passenger, 20-year-old Angel Robles of Highbridge, was arrested and charged with criminal possession of a loaded firearm.
A Glock With an Extended Magazine
Inside the Kia, officers recovered a Glock .22 fitted with an extended magazine.
Whether the firearm belonged to Robles or the driver had not been officially established as of Tuesday afternoon, though Robles is the one currently facing the possession charge.
The Driver’s Prior History
The 18-year-old driver had not been keeping a clean record in the months leading up to Sunday. Back in February, he had been arrested in connection with a separate shooting incident and charged with attempted felony assault, reckless endangerment, and criminal possession of a firearm.
Formal charges related to Sunday’s events had not yet been announced as of Tuesday.
The Kia Connection
After executing a search warrant on the stolen vehicle involved in yesterday’s incident, the NYPD recovered this loaded Glock 22 gun and an extended magazine from the back of the car. https://t.co/6XBEX1vRIE pic.twitter.com/NfpdiFhN1d
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) June 23, 2026
This is far from the first time a Kia has appeared in a crime report, and it likely will not be the last. The brand has faced well-documented scrutiny in recent years over theft vulnerabilities, particularly in older models lacking engine immobilizers.
Whether that played a role here has not been stated by authorities, but the Kia Sportage continues to pop up in stolen vehicle reports with a frequency that the manufacturer would probably prefer to forget.