Law enforcement agencies revisit catalytic converter theft warnings - Los Altos Town Crier

A rise, once more, in catalytic converter thefts nationwide is prompting local law enforcement agencies to issue reminders about the crime and recommend precautions residents can take to protect their vehicles.

“It’s creating a lot of problems for many, many people up and down the country,” said Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Rich Urena during his virtual Oct. 19 “Coffee with the Sheriff” presentation for Los Altos Hills.

Catalytic converters, or cats, are exhaust emission control devices featured on gasoline-powered automobiles. Thieves are attracted to cats because they contain the precious metals rhodium, palladium and platinum, which can be scrapped and sold on the black market. Hybrid vehicles, including Toyota Priuses and Honda’s hybrid version of its Accord, are especially attractive because their engines are used less often, and they wear less on the metals than those belonging to traditional vehicles.

Los Altos Hills, where the unofficial “green” vehicle of choice is completely electric and manufactured by Tesla, has not experienced a recent uptick in cat theft, but Urena said the town is an outlier.

“Regionwide, crooks are going under the car and taking those catalytic converters and selling them for between $200 and $250 each,” he said.

Of the nine grand thefts reported in Los Altos Hills so far this year, only one is related to a catalytic converter stolen from a vehicle inside the town, Urena said. But Sheriff’s Office deputies recently recovered two stolen catalytic converters while patrolling in the Hills.

At approximately 5 p.m. Sept. 22, deputies stopped a Ford Ranger pickup on El Monte Road near Hummingbird Court because the truck lacked a front license plate, Lt. Neil Valenzuela wrote in an email to the Town Crier. During their investigation, deputies discovered a hacksaw and the catalytic converters inside the vehicle. They also learned the truck had been reported stolen in San Lorenzo and that a warrant existed for the driver, a 39-year-old transient named Nesar Azimi, for charges related to possession of a stolen vehicle and felony evading.

The deputies arrested Azimi on the warrant and added two new charges: possession of a stolen vehicle and possession of stolen property, Valenzuela said.

At 4:20 a.m. Friday, a Gretel Lane resident called the Mountain View Police Department after watching thieves steal his car’s cat, according to an MVPD press release. When officers tracked down and stopped the suspects’ vehicle near the intersection of El Camino Real and Grant Road, four occupants fled. Officers were able to detain one man, from Oakland, who they are not currently naming.

On Oct. 22, an MVPD sergeant detained Efrain Hernandez, 25, of San Jose, because the vehicle he drove featured an expired registration, according to an MVPD report.During a search of the vehicle, they uncovered a stolen cat, burglary tools, drugs and drug paraphernalia, and they arrested him on related charges.

“While there is no foolproof system, tactics can be taken to help prevent this type of crime,” the report stated.

It suggested installing an alarm triggered when a vehicle is jacked up or painting a cat to render it less desirable and possibly traceable.

Urena said he does not recommend engraving a cat with information like the license plate number from the associated vehicle because crooks can easily shave off such identifying marks. Securing a catalytic converter with a welded cage, a shield or a strap costing a few hundred dollars, however, may be a worthy investment to safeguard an essential part that could cost thousands to replace.

“They’re expecting to go under your car to cut, essentially, two pipes, and then take it,” Urena said. “So when they go under it, and they see this system in place, they don’t want to spend more than a minute or so under your car. So that would help.”

The next Los Altos Hills “Coffee with the Sheriff” webinar is scheduled 2-3 p.m. Tuesday. For more information, visit losaltoshills.ca.gov and consult the calendar near the bottom of the page.

source: https://www.losaltosonline.com/news/law-enforcement-agencies-revisit-catalytic-converter-theft-warnings/article_c795b76a-417e-11ec-8f74-ab5e6a87be33.html

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