Thieves targeting catalytic converters

Spike in market price of precious metal in exhaust system to blame, police say

Police in Berks and surrounding counties are asking the public to lend their eyes, and especially their ears, to combat increasingly pervasive property crime that leaves vehicle owners without a piece of the exhaust system and with an expensive repair bill.

Investigators say thieves are using battery-powered saws to remove the catalytic converters from vehicles for their value as scrap metal — specifically, rhodium, a byproduct of platinum and palladium.

While not a new crime, a spike in the market price of rhodium — a precious metal that is part of the innards of the converters — is driving the theft in Berks, Chester, Montgomery, Schuylkill and other counties in and outside of Pennsylvania.

The thefts are occurring in the daytime as well as under the cloak of darkness, mostly in places where vehicles are stored, such as the lots of automobile repair shops, officials said.

“They can do it in five minute or less if they know what they’re doing,” Caernarvon Township Detective Cpl. Chad Eberly said Monday.

The vehicle owner is left with a repair bill that can cost around $2,000.

Several thefts have occurred in Caernarvon over the last six months, but that township is not alone in Berks. Police in Robeson and Douglass townships have reported similar thefts, all in lots well off the road.

Some of the thefts have been quite brazen, Eberly said.

A case in the spring stands out. The victim parked his car at the Thousand Oaks Corporate Center at Route 10 and Interstate 176 near Morgantown when he arrived for work in the morning. When he got into his car a few hours later to go to lunch, he discovered the theft the way most victims do: when he turned on the ignition and was met with the deafening sound of the motor’s unmuffled exhaust.

“They cut his catalytic converter off while he was at work,” Eberly said. “People reported hearing a saw and thought it was construction across the street.”

The thefts are so prevalent that it’s difficult to say if they are connected, he said. Even if a sawed-off converter is found by police in a scrap yard, it’s nearly impossible to match it to a stolen converter because they typically have no identifying markings.

Morgan Corp., which assembles truck bodies at its facility at I-176 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike, has been victimized several times this year.

The latest was a big-time job that might have involved an organized outfit, Eberly said.

Between Oct 5. and Oct. 21, thieves stole the catalytic converters from under trucks in the company’s overflow lot on Quarry Road. The loss, including the cost to repair the vehicles, is estimated at more than $54,000.

The amount of money the thieves get for the part varies greatly depending on the make and model of vehicle and the scrap yard involved. Eberly said he’s heard of metal recyclers paying as little as $25 for a converter to over $1,000. Heavy-duty pickup trucks are on the higher end of the scale.

Police are asking people to be vigilant for suspicious people around vehicles or the sound of a saw blade cutting metal. Call police right away using 9-1-1 if you see or hear something suspicious.

Tips can also be made via Crime Alert Berks County’s anonymous tip line, 877373-9913. Tips can also be sent via text, using the keyword “alert berks,” to 847411. Crime Alert will pay a cash reward for information leading to an arrest.