Thefts on the rise of anti-pollution device for autos

Rising metal commodity prices make platinum in the converters a target of thieves.

CINCINNATI (AP) — Marty Boyer’s carefully maintained sport utility vehicle growled more like a dragster than a 2001 Honda Passport when he turned the key.

“The second I turned it over, and it sounded like a tank and a Harley, I knew exactly what had occurred,” said Boyer, 33.

A half-dozen office colleagues had told him about that roar after their own catalytic converters were stolen, a crime that has been rising rapidly across the country from riverside parking lots in Cincinnati to highways along the California coast.

The pollution-reducing converters contain small amounts of the precious metals platinum and palladium, and they’ve joined copper wire and sewer grates on the long list of metal items targeted by thieves eager to cash in on climbing metal commodity prices.

Converter thieves slip under vehicles with battery-powered saws, sometimes in daylight, and in a matter of minutes leave owners with shocking repair bills.

The thefts were only a sporadic problem nationally until about a year ago but have grown to a near-epidemic, said Frank Scafidi, a spokesman for the National Insurance Crime Bureau. Scafidi received an overwhelming response when he recently questioned bureau agents.

Since January, 43 converter thefts were reported in downtown Cincinnati, compared with eight during the first half of 2007, said police Lt. Mark Briede.

In Arizona, the Phoenix police department’s metal thefts squad has grown to accommodate a rash of thefts, including converters. Authorities in Portland, Ore., and Memphis, Tenn., also report increases.

California has become a hot spot, especially in the Sacramento and San Francisco areas, and thieves sometimes steal vehicles and abandon them after removing the converters, said Lt. Chris Costigan of the California Highway Patrol.

No comprehensive national totals are available on converter thefts, which are usually lumped into theft or vandalism categories.

Converters have been standard equipment since the mid-1970s, and some newer vehicles have up to four.

Five years ago, platinum traded for about $608 per troy ounce and palladium went for $208. Platinum now goes for $2,083 per troy ounce, and palladium draws about $468 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. A troy ounce is a metal measurement slightly larger than a common ounce.

Prices have increased with demand as use of catalytic converters grew and platinum jewelry gained in popularity, said Larry Manziek, executive director of the International Precious Metals Institute, a Pensacola, Fla.-based trade organization. In the last year, electronic trading of platinum also increased, making the metal an easier investment, he said.