MOUNT VERNON — Local law enforcement reported at least five incidents in the past week of people claiming their catalytic converters were stolen.
A recent target of thieves, the catalytic converters are sold to scrap yards for the valuable metals they contain. Installed on vehicles manufactured after 1974, the converters contain small amounts of platinum, palladium and rhodium. Platinum is trading at more than $2,075 an ounce, while rhodium — one of the most expensive metals on the planet — is valued at more than $7,300 an ounce.
The metals are used to convert hazardous exhaust gasses such as carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides into less harmful ones, such as carbon dioxide or nitrogen.
According to Detective Cpl. Matt Dailey of the Mount Vernon Police Department, thieves using an electric saw can cut the converter off a vehicle “within a couple of minutes.”
“They just cut a couple of pipes and they leave,” said Dailey. “The problem is, they’re doing it in broad daylight.”
Law enforcement officials say thieves are prone to target larger trucks and SUVs, because the catalytic converters in these vehicles are larger — or, in some cases, the vehicle may have two — and it’s easier for thieves to fit under the vehicle without the use of a jack.
City officials across the state have begun to pass legislation in an attempt to curb metal theft. In Columbus, scrap dealers are required to keep records of seller’s personal information. Dailey said scrap yard owners in the Mount Vernon area are required to do the same.
Dailey said detectives recently made an arrest in a case involving stolen catalytic converters, although he declined to provide further details on the pending matter.
A Toledo-based company recently started marketing a catalytic converter anti-theft device. For approximately $250, a vehicle owner can have a series of brackets and aircraft cable welded to the frame of the car. The idea is that potential thieves would be disinclined to spend the time required to saw through the device.
