Thieves find a new booty under autos

Authorities offer tips on how to track the valuable exhaust devices.

STAFF REPORT

YOUNGSTOWN — Stop what you’re doing and go etch your Vehicle Identification Number — VIN — into your catalytic converter.

That’s what some drivers are doing in California and Texas and what police here think would help trace the sale of stolen converters. Local thefts started popping up a few weeks ago and are growing almost daily, with 35 taken as of Friday.

“Anything you can do to prove it’s yours would help,” said Patrolman Dave Santangelo of the Youngstown Police Department Scrap Theft Unit. “The VIN is the best [marking] because we can trace it.”

To find your VIN, a combination of 17 characters, look on the driver’s-side dash. It should also be on the engine block. VINs are also hidden throughout vehicles (but not on catalytic converters) to help investigators, especially in the event of parts thefts.

Catalytic converters, mandatory since 1975, are installed on vehicles’ exhaust pipes to reduce noxious emissions. A loud, ferocious sound at start-up will let you know someone has stolen your converter.

The devices, which can be detached in a matter of minutes, are becoming a hot item locally for thieves. Removal is quick with a torch, handsaw or battery-powered reciprocating saw.

Locally, catalytic converter thefts in the past few weeks include:

UIn Youngstown, converters were cut from five cars parked at J.D. Byrider, 775 N. Meridian Road, and from three city Parks Department trucks parked at the Stambaugh golf course on Gypsy Lane. The catalytic converter on a Mazda stored in an Everett Street garage the past 12 years was stolen, as were the vehicle’s tires and a weed whacker. Converters were also cut off two buses parked in an enclosed lot at the Youngstown Area Community Center on McCartney Road. MHF Logistical Solutions on Poland Avenue told police that catalytic converters had been cut away from two trucks in the warehouse. A stolen van found on South Maryland Avenue was missing its catalytic converter.

UIn Austintown, four were stolen from vehicles parked at Auto Profile, 6617 Mahoning Ave.

UIn Warren, converters were taken from eight cars at Agree Auto Sales, 4126 Youngstown Road S.E.

UIn Boardman, Affordable Cars 4 U reported the theft of nine converters.

Vehicles most at risk are those parked in unattended lots or quiet residential streets. Particularly easy targets are vehicles with a high ground clearance, such as SUVs, because the thief has more room to work underneath, Santangelo said.

He suggested that vehicles kept inside a fenced lot be given an overnight companion — such as a big dog that likes to bark at intruders. For vehicles parked on residential streets or in driveways, he hopes neighbors look out for one another and report suspicious activity to police.

Catalytic converters contain small amounts, roughly a tenth of an ounce, of platinum, palladium and rhodium — all precious metals for scrap thieves. The price of platinum alone has brought $2,000 or more per troy ounce, according to the New York Mercantile Exchange. There are 12 troy ounces in a pound.

The cost of a catalytic converter varies by manufacturer, with none costing more than about $400 or so, said Ralph Cassidy, store manager at Advance Auto Parts on Mahoning Avenue.

He said a universal converter (no platinum) that might have to be adapted to a specific vehicle’s pipes costs $60. A converter for a 2000 Ford Taurus, for example, costs $298 and one for a 2004 Chevrolet Trailblazer sells for $305, he said.

At Greenwood Chevrolet in Austintown, the cost to install a converter ranges from $600 to $900, depending on the model car, truck or van, said Jason Newman in the parts department. He said they’ve seen a rise in converter installations because of thefts.

Local scrapyards are paying around $15 per converter, Santangelo said. He’s trying to determine who is buying converters not for the scrap but for the valuable recyclables inside.

Ever since scrap prices started to rise, thieves have been ripping aluminum siding off houses, yanking copper pipes and wires from their moorings, stealing cemetery urns, cell tower grounding plates and manhole covers. The metals thefts convinced YPD Chief Jimmy Hughes of the need for a Scrap Theft Unit nearly two years ago.

To help track copper pipes, Santangelo suggested that homeowners and business owners take a can of “goofy colored” (think purple) spray paint and use it on the pipes. When done, take a photo of your handiwork.

This way, if the pipes are stolen, they’ll stand out and can be identified, Santangelo said.

Copper and aluminum thefts are still going strong but now, as in other parts of the country, police in the Mahoning Valley are dealing with catalytic converter thefts.

The theft of converters from trucks parked at the municipal golf course on Gypsy Lane has renewed efforts to fence in the lot or find property that has a fence for city equipment, said Jason Whitehead, mayor’s chief of staff and acting Youngstown Parks Department director.

Whitehead said the golf course is not an ideal location for equipment such as lawn mowers, trimmers and so forth but the budget crunch has prevented a move. He said the decision may be to fence in the lot on Gypsy.

“Maybe then we’d get a big dog,” he quipped.

A new state law requires that scrap dealers obtain the sellers’ IDs and keep records of all purchases, taking photos of high-theft items such as copper.

In Youngstown, the scrapyards provide Santangelo with a printout of their buys, along with photocopies of the IDs.

If anyone has information about converters thefts, call Santangelo at (330) 742-8993 or Crime Stoppers at (330) 746-CLUE.