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A28 u.s. news
Dialuna 3 Januari 2022

Police struggle to deter rising catalytic converter thefts

(AP) — In the tiny town of Law- Similar crimes followed, targeting a them to recycling facilities to reclaim or other documentation.
renceville, Virginia, a van owned total of 15 church vans and 13 other the precious metals inside, including
by Poplar Mount Baptist Church vehicles in town, part of a nationwide platinum, palladium and rhodium. “It would make it more risky for
was knocked out of commission surge in thefts of catalytic converters. the thieves to steal them,” said Sen.
for weeks after thieves cut the For victims, the costs of replacing a Frank Ruff Jr., who is sponsoring the
catalytic converter out of its ex- Thefts of the exhaust emission con- stolen catalytic converter can easily bill. “The sellers would have to show
haust system. trol devices have jumped over the past top $1,000 and make their vehicle more identification, and then at the
two years as prices for the precious undrivable for days or weeks as the same time, the salvage dealer would
Several months later, across town, a metals they contain have skyrocketed. part is ordered and installed. It can not want to get in trouble so he’d
catalytic converter was ripped from a Thieves can expect to get anywhere also leave owners feeling vulnerable. be less likely to allow them to sell to
van owned by First Baptist Church. from $50 to $300 if they sell the con- him.”
verters to scrap yards, which then sell “Just to feel that the church property
was invaded by thieves was disheart- Brunswick County Sheriff Brian
ening,” said John Robinson, a mem- Roberts, who has seen the number
ber of Poplar Mount Baptist Church. of thefts in his rural area grow from
seven to nine annually to 28 this year,
Robinson said replacing the stolen said converters can be stolen in min-
converter cost about $1,000. The utes. Thieves need only crawl under
theft was covered by insurance, but a vehicle and use a battery-operated
the church had to pay its $250 deduct- reciprocating saw to cut through the
ible and was unable to use the van for metal and remove the part, he said.
six weeks as it sat in a mechanic’s yard
waiting for a new part. In Henrico County, where about 540
catalytic converters have been report-
The National Insurance Crime Bu- ed stolen this year, police have pro-
reau said the number of catalytic duced public service announcements
converter thefts reported in claims to to raise awareness.
insurance companies jumped from
3,389 in 2019 to 14,433 in 2020. David Overby, owner of Auto Repairs
NICB President David Glawe said Plus, said he spent more than $5,000
there has been a significant increase on lighting and a security system with
in thefts since the beginning of the cameras after thieves repeatedly stole
COVID-19 pandemic. catalytic converters off his customers’
cars in his parking lot. Overby said
“It’s an opportunistic crime,” Glawe police arrested two people caught on
said in a statement. “As the value of his cameras stealing converters, but
the precious metals contained within he said under the current law, they
the catalytic converters continues to were only charged with a misde-
increase, so do the number of thefts meanor.
of these devices. There is a clear con-
nection between times of crisis, lim- “These people have got to be held ac-
ited resources, and disruption of the countable in some way, not given a
supply chain that drives investors to- slap on their wrist,” Overby said.
wards these precious metals.”
At Chesterfield Auto Parts, where
The increase in thefts has prompted customers can pull parts from junked
states across the country to toughen cars, owner Troy Webber said his
penalties and impose new require- workers remove catalytic converters
ments for scrap metal dealers who before the vehicles are made avail-
buy the converters. Ten states enact- able to the public, then lock the de-
ed new legislation in 2021, including vices in steel containers before selling
laws in Arkansas, South Carolina and them to auto recyclers. That doesn’t
Texas that require scrap metal buyers stop thieves from trying to break in,
of used converters to maintain re- he said.
cords of purchases, including proof
of ownership, vehicle identification “People cut through our fence con-
numbers, the seller’s home address stantly to try to steal the catalytic con-
and driver’s license numbers, accord- verters,” he said.
ing to the insurance crime bureau.
Henrico police Chief Eric English
In North Carolina, a law that went said catalytic converters have been cut
into effect Dec. 1 makes catalytic from vehicles parked in homeowners’
converter thefts a Class I felony and driveways. Police have advised people
requires businesses that buy used cat- about theft prevention measures, in-
alytic converters to get documenta- cluding protective shields and cov-
tion and maintain detailed records on ers for the converters. They’ve also
people who sell the devices to them. offered to stencil a mark on catalytic
converters to allow scrap yard dealers
A bill modeled after the North Car- and recyclers to more easily identity a
olina law will be introduced in Vir- stolen converter.
ginia when the legislature reconvenes
in January. The measure would make “It’s definitely something we have
the theft of a catalytic converter a fel- to get a hold of because it’s causing
ony and presume that anyone in pos- a lot of families and a lot of people
session of one that’s been removed some heartburn,” English said. “It’s
from a vehicle has obtained it illegally not something people deserve to have
unless the person is an authorized happen to them.”
scrap seller or has a bill of sale, receipt