I am so tired of thieves

[ripcord]

It was a nice day so I walked to the store to get a few things, when I left I was walking through the parking lot and some guy was laying under a truck cutting off the catalytic converter so I called the police and got a picture of his vehicle. The police caught him quickly and brought him back for me to identify and he had the balls to threaten me in front of the cops. I live in the high desert of Southern California no one up here has much money and replacing a catalytic converter runs anywhere from $1000 to $2500. Between California's early release programs and the releases due to the pandemic these criminals have no fear anymore, I am beginning to miss the days when we cared more about the victims than the criminals.

[MagickMuffin]

1. Apparently this is a huge crime in my neighborhood

Broad daylight and they are stealing the catalytic converter.

Thank you for alerting authorities and be careful since the guy threatened you.

[Rebl2]

6. Seems to be

a problem everywhere. I am in KC and it has been a problem here recently. What is in a catalytic converter that they want? Copper or something like that?

[MagickMuffin]

8. Not sure but they are reselling them and getting $$$$$ apparently

Perhaps the market needs to address this and trace the criminals who try to profit off other people's property. Especially people who might have hardships and during the pandemic is extra cruel.

[hatrack]

10. Platinum - somebody did that to our office car last spring

We're a little non-profit, and that $1,400 could have been put to better use.

[dalton99a]

11. A few grams of platinum

[Klaralven]

12. Platinum, palladium and rhodium.

Platinum is over $1100 / ounce, palladium over $2300, and rhodum close to $20,000 / ounce.

It has occurred to me that catalytic converters were a plot to subsidize the South African government back in the day. And of course, they are still a huge win for the big mining interests.

Platinum Group Metal Recovery from Spent Catalytic Converters Using XRF

https://www.thermofisher.com/blog/metals/platinum-group-metal-recovery-from-spent-catalytic-converters-using-xrf

[dawg]

2. Agreed. Law and order should be a liberal issue.

We want justice to be applied fairly and compassionately.

But we *do* want justice!

[GoneOffShore]

3. We were burgled yesterday.

We had gone out to do some errands, and when we got back the front door of our apartment had been kicked in. The lock had held, but the wooden mortise hadn't.
We lost cash, some jewelry, a camera, and my smallish collection of pocket knives.
Our computers, TV, and other electronics weren't touched. The thief didn't even go into the kitchen. Elsewhere drawers were emptied out, stuff strewn over the floor, but nothing broken (apart from the door), and no little 'presents' left anywhere.
Our neighbor across the hall had her place broken into back in July.
The building we're in has a buzzer system, but someone had let the guy in. Not maliciously, but probably because he was hanging around and slipped in as someone was going out.
Insurance will cover all but the cash. So there's that.

Still it's a pain.

And yes, I hate thieves too.

[maxsolomon]

4. this happened to my daughter, in front of our house. we found a wrench they dropped.

per the mechanic, here in seattle one of our homeless encampments set up a metal shop to extract the platinum.

1st gen Priuses should get the welded-on-rebar theft deterrent installed post haste. better $200 now than $2000 later.

thank you for putting yourself at risk and catching the thief.

i am also tired of the theft and wish this nation had not reduced so many to such desperation. i point my finger directly at the republican party for preventing any collective action to address homelessness and poverty.

[leftyladyfrommo]

5. It's a huge problem here in KCMO.

Not just catalytic converters. They are coming into neighborhoods in the early morning hours and stealing everything they can find and cars and trucks and trailers and work tools. And it's citywide.

[benld74]

7. Daughter's converter taken

In the night. On the street. With 3-4 inches of snow on the ground.

Hope thief caught the flu

insurance covered
But that means higher rates coming

[dalton99a]

9. Prius' catalytic converter stolen twice in two months:

https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/08/09/prius-owner-s-catalytic-converter-stolen-twice-in-two-months-roadshow/

Q: The catalytic converter just got stolen from my ’07 Prius for the second time in two months — and it took nearly three weeks to get the part in to fix it the first time because this is happening to so many people.

Alison Hyde, Palo Alto

[Victor_c3]

13. I'm going to say putting cats where they're easy to steal is a major design flaw

My vehicle has two catalytic converters, one immediately off each exhaust manifold. The only way to access the cats is to drop the engine out of the car with it up on a lift.