Phoenix cops discover 1,200 catalytic converters as thefts soar

PHOENIX -- An Arizona man was dealing with a number of theft expenses Friday after detectives found greater than 1,200 catalytic converters packed right into a storage unit, a case that highlights a nationwide surge in thefts of the pricy auto parts that play a important position in reducing vehicle emissions.

The invention adopted a months-long investigation that started with a January tip that someone was storing stolen catalytic converters in an industrial space close to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.

“We were very surprised at the quantity in there,” Phoenix police Det. Adam Popelier mentioned in a police video taken Thursday as officers had been pulling converters from the jam-packed storage locker.

The 48-year-old man who police say was buying and promoting the convertors was charged with 40 counts of theft and will face extra prices.

The large rise in catalytic converters thefts throughout the nation has hit tens of thousands of automobile and truck owners in the pocketbook and pissed off police, who are confronted with a criminal offense that takes just minutes to commit and is troublesome to solve even if they discover the stolen elements.

Catalytic converters will not be imprinted on the factory with serial numbers and stolen converters find yourself on a black market where they are chopped open for the dear metals they contain.

Changing one can value a motorist from $1,000 to $3,000, based on the Nationwide Insurance Crime Bureau, an insurance trade group that works to combat insurance fraud and crime. Police say thieves can get from $100 to $150 for every converter.

The insurance coverage group counted just 3,969 stories of stolen catalytic converters in 2019, more than 17,000 in 2020 and more than 52,000 last yr.

Lawmakers throughout the nation have taken notice, introducing laws designed to make it more durable for criminals to unload their loot. According to the National Insurance coverage Crime Bureau, 150 bills have been introduced this 12 months in 36 states and enacted in 16 states.

That features Arizona, the place Republican Gov. Doug Ducey signed a invoice this month that makes possession of a catalytic converter in many instances a crime and adds detailed reporting requirements for scrap sellers that buy professional used units. They must mark the item with the donor car's serial number and retain it for at the least a week in original condition.

Scrap sellers caught with unregistered or stolen converters face a $500 effective for the first offense, a $2,000 high quality for a second and at the very least double that for each extra time they're caught. Those possessing or trying to promote a used catalytic converter that do not meet new necessities may face a six-month jail sentence.

Federal legislation can be within the works. Indiana Rep. Jim Baird is sponsoring a invoice backed by the National Insurance coverage Crime Bureau that may require serial numbers on new devices, supply grants for packages to stamp numbers on present vehicles and vehicles and make it easier to prosecute thefts.

The insurance group's President and CEO David Glawe referred to as it a essential step in serving to bring reduction to folks immediately impacted by the thefts.

Insurance coverage typically doesn't cover a automotive proprietor's losses. Someone carrying simply legal responsibility coverage or liability and collision is on the hook for the full invoice. Even with comprehensive protection, there is a deductible which may be excessive enough that it is not price submitting a declare.

“Lastly, some victims even with protection could treat the problem as a mechanical concern and just pay for it themselves and never notify their insurer,” insurance crime bureau spokesperson Tully Lehman mentioned Friday.