‘It hurts’: Mom says her car was stolen, trashed with Christmas gifts inside

CLEVELAND (WOIO/Gray News) - A mother in Cleveland is not in the Christmas spirit this season after her car was stolen just days before Thanksgiving with Christmas gifts inside.

Shanel Constantino said her Kia Sportage was recovered by police two weeks later, but it was a total mess.

“They messed up the rim, the front tire blew out, they ripped off my gas cap, they destroyed all the seats,” Constantino told WOIO.

Constantino left Christmas gifts and a laptop inside her car. All those items are gone. She has been driving a rental car since the incident and fighting her insurance company.

“They’re only covering $15,000 of the $19,000 that’s owed,” she said. “I can’t get financed anywhere, no banks are picking me up, even though I have a 100 positive payment history.”

Time will soon run out for the rental car, leaving her scrambling for a way to get around.

“It hurts, it hurts. The fact that these thefts are still going on in the city after everything that has occurred in the city,” Constantino said. “All these families who have lost their Kias and Hyundais. I can only imagine what other families are going through.”

Constantino said not only has this put a damper on her Christmas spirit, but the look on her children’s faces is what hurts the most.

“Both of my kids just keep asking, ‘When are we going to get our car back, mommy?’ They don’t understand,” she said.

Constantino said she hopes car companies can have a heart during the holidays.

“Kia needs to step up and do something in regards to all their clients or these banks need to understand not everybody’s credit score remains the same from the time they purchased their vehicle,” Constantino said.

Anyone interested in helping Constantino can send her an email at nellys.concina87@gmail.com.

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