Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. a criminal, later esp. a car thief.

1909		Eve. Star (Wash., DC) 11 Sept. 20/6: Another film [...] showed how criminals [...] were punished [...] in the days when kinks had the bulge everywhere.
1914		Jackson & Hellyer Vocab. Criminal Sl. 52: kink [...] a crook; a larcenous criminal.
1931		Irwin Amer. Tramp and Und. Sl. 117: Kink. – A criminal, who one is not straight.
1950		Goldin et al. DAUL 117/2: Kink. (Scattered areas of East and near South) A thief, especially an expert in stealing automobiles.
1962		Ragen & Finston World’s Toughest Prison 806: kink – A criminal; one who is not straight.

2. a non-criminal tramp or a criminal who specializes in a style of theft different from that practised by the speaker.

1914

Jackson & Hellyer Vocab. Criminal Sl. 52: kink [...] a non-criminal tramp, or one who is not initiated into the particular craft of the speaker.