While talking to a relative from Kansas City over the Thanksgiving Break, we learned about a rise in catalytic converter theft from a suburban neighborhood out there (here’s a June 2021 example of an uptick at the Kansas City airport). The next day, a Beaconite wrote in to ALBB say that they watched 3 people in black ski masks cut the catalytic converter out from underneath their car in their driveway at 2:30am on Thanksgiving Eve. They live near a free municipal parking lot, which has noise and people walking through which can provide distraction.

UPDATE 11/28/2021: Mo Dabashi of The Beacon Car Wash across from Key Food reported in that they also experienced theft of 2 catalytic converters from their lot the night before Thanksgiving. The same night that the resident originally mentioned in this article had theirs stolen.

According to Beacon Police when ALBB called to verify, there is a rise in theft of catalytic converters in the Hudson Valley area. According to a July 2021 article in the Poughkeepsie Journal reviewing data from the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), the average monthly number of stolen catalytic converters was 108 stolen/month. In 2021, after rising during the economic hardship induced by the pandemic in 2020, that number spiked to 5,000 stolen/month.

What Is A Catalytic Converter?

The catalytic converter is a long cylinder under the car that is part of the exhaust system in between the engine and the muffler. According to Chapel Hill Tire: “Your catalytic converter is named as such because it converts toxins into less harmful byproducts, such as water vapor and carbon dioxide. Without this component, your vehicle will no longer be filtering and reducing harmful emissions, including hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides, and carbon monoxide.”

The electronic vehicle (EV) the Tesla, for instance, does not have a catalytic converter because it does not burn fossil fuels and has no need for the exhaust system, according to Specialty Metals. For metal scrappers, a Ford would be worth more than the Tesla, according to Specialty Metals.

When a fuel-burning car has rumbling sounds underneath, one never wants it to be a bad catalytic converter, as they can be expensive to replace if one buys a new one from the car maker. Without a catalytic converter, the car would be very loud, and release different toxins. In many areas, it is illegal to drive without a catalytic converter.

In New York State, as reported by the law firm Goldberg and Segalla, it is “unlawful for any person to install, sell, offer for sale, or advertise any new aftermarket catalytic converter in New York State unless it has been exempted pursuant to the requirements of California Code of Regulations, title 13, section 2222 (see table 1, section 200.9 of this Title).”

One Beaconite’s Experience Of Hearing The Catalytic Converter Be Cut Out

The Beaconite who alerted ALBB described the scene: “But at around 2:30 in the morning, we were awoken by a strange sound outside...A squeaking grinding sound, almost like a loose belt on a car. My partner shot out of bed and looked out our bedroom window, which is directly above our driveway where our car was parked. He was surprised to see 3 men in all black wearing ski masks - nothing identifiable showing. One was actually under our car. He realized immediately that they were cutting out the catalytic converter on our Honda CRV.”

The Beaconites were scheduled to drive to family for Thanksgiving. But after their catalytic converter was cut out, said: “Thanksgiving morning, we called around for a rental car but could not get one, so spent Thanksgiving on our own. Talk about gratitude --- I'm grateful that my kid didn't wake up to see the commotion. I'm grateful that no one was hurt. It was just such a scary incident.”

The mechanic shop has estimated the replacement job for this Beaconite to be $2,000.

Why Do People Steal The Catalytic Converter?

*Photo Credit:* *The Poughkeepsie Journal*

Inside of the catalytic converter are precious metals that help convert the toxic chemicals. These metals are platinum, rhodium, and palladium, according to Chapel Hill Tire and Fox4KC. As pointed out by the Poughkeepsie Journal, rhodium exceeded the price of gold per ounce.

According to Fox4KC and the Poughkeepsie Journal, a catalytic converter can sell for $150 - $300. According to Chapel Hill Tire: “The Toyota Prius is the most targeted car for catalytic converter theft. As a low-emissions vehicle, Prius converters contain larger amounts of the precious metals platinum, rhodium, and palladium. Thieves can fetch as much as $700 per converter from unscrupulous scrap yards.”

Watch This Video Of 2 Hudson Valley Men With Tow Truck Steal A Catalytic Converter

These two men in a video captured in a security camera published on the Poughkeepsie Journal shows how brazen the theft can be. Stolen in broad daylight, these two men - one in shorts showing his white skin - drove in a tow truck to a SUV parked in a parking lot behind what looks to be a small strip mall. One man looked for the catalytic converter, and the two men went for it. Once cut out, one man put it in a storage drawer in the tow truck, and they drove away.

See here where a collection of catalytic converters were in a storage facility in CA.

Should you have any leads on thieves of catalytic converters, or storage places of them, or scrapping sources, contact the Beacon Police Department at 845-831-4111.