LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- An Oldham County man's car was stolen from a downtown Louisville parking lot. It was later found wrecked with what the owner said are bullet holes.

Clay Carter, 21, only had the car for three months before it was stolen off East Main Street while the recent graduate was at work.

"I had just bought it with my parents. It was a 2021 Kia Rio. It was definitely something I couldn't afford, but I was trying to pay it back to them, low mileage and everything," Carter said. "It was shock, obviously, like you don't expect it to happen."

Kia Rio

Clay Carter buying the car in February. 

Someone stole his Kia from the Slugger Field parking lot on May 21, days after his graduation.

"I go over to the my co-worker's car and it was also white, wasn't my car, and I walked up to the front and I'm like, this isn't my car and I slowly turned around. I think my car got stolen," Carter said.

It happened while Carter was at work. 

"I knew I had a Kia, I know what happens with Kias too for the most part, but you just you see it online. You're like, oh, that's crazy. But then it happens and you're like this is a lot worse," he said.

Police recovered the car two days later at 17th and Market streets in a crash.

"It was destroyed. Basically every part of the car had some amount of damage to it," Carter said. "It was impressive how much damage was done to it."

Carter's tire had been shredded and possibly shot at. The car sits in the Louisville Metro Police Department's impound lot with what look like bullet holes, but police would not confirm if it was involved in a shooting.

"I will not be getting another Kia, that is for sure," Carter said.

Thieves have stolen more than 2,000 cars in Louisville so far this year. Police said that's an 18% drop from 2023, but residents on all corners of the city are still being vigilant.

"Louisville is a great place for the most part. There's obviously some problems. If you own a Kia or Hyundai or anything get like a lock for it, better safe than sorry," Carter said.

Funding allocated for public safety in Thursday's Metro Council meeting will be used to purchase new license plate readers to help LMPD find stolen vehicles.

Police are also handing out steering wheel locks to Kia and Hyundai drivers throughout the city to help with an issue that allows those cars to be easily stolen.

Carter said while his car was wrecked, he's glad his life wasn't.

"I would just hope they think of like who it's affecting because, obviously, you know, I'll survive, but like I said, I mean, I hadn't put much money into that car. So I mean it, it screwed my parents out of the money more at that point, but like we'll live. But you could be doing it to just anyone," he said. "You don't know whose car you're taking, could have been some single parent who wasn't able to take their kids to practice or go to work. But in my case, you know, I had the support system that was able to keep my life moving about the same as it was before, but you never know."

Meanwhile, LMPD encourages drivers to lock their car, park in high-traffic areas, and keep their personal belongings at home.

"It was probably the very worst time for them to have taken it," Carter said. "Worse for me, probably best for them."

Carter is currently driving his dad's car to and from work. His parents were about to help him move into a new apartment, so Carter said thieves also got a lot of his pre-packed personal belongings.

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