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Car part theft increases in Longmont

Since the beginning of the pandemic, catalytic converters can be difficult to replace.
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CatGuard, Colorado State Patrol's new identifier system to help stem the tide of catalytic converter theft.

Hed: Car part theft increases in Longmont

Sub: Since the beginning of the pandemic, it can be difficult to replace these parts

In the past year catalytic converter theft has been on the rise, and even Longmont isn’t safe. 

The rash of thefts have escalated nation-wide in 2021, making news on the likes of NPR’s Morning Edition.

A catalytic converter is an emissions control device installed in the exhaust system of a vehicle that’s powered by an internal combustion engine. The majority of vehicles in the U.S. since 1975 are installed with them. The converter reduces pollutants being put into the air by converting carbon monoxide and unburned hydrocarbons into harmless compounds.

The converters are full of precious metals like platinum, palladium and rhodium, which makes them both expensive to replace and prime targets for thieves looking for easy cash. A thief can sell the parts to a scrap dealer for upwards of $50 to $800 according to Colorado State Patrol. The cost to replace the catalytic converter can cost the victim thousands of dollars without comprehensive auto insurance.

University of Colorado-Boulder Police noted an uptick in the report of thefts in March 2021. In early May, CBS Denver reported that more than $20,000 in catalytic converters were stolen from the Stout Street Foundation’s fleet of passenger vans. Also in May, Atlas Prep School in Colorado Springs reported the theft of catalytic converters from their activity buses, nearly $9,000 as reported by KRDO.

Longmont resident Connie Carter and her partner John were victims of a catalytic converter theft last week.

“At midnight my partner and I were awoken by the sound of someone cutting the catalytic converter from the underside of his truck,” Carter wrote in an email to  the Leader. “The police came too late to catch the culprit, but we did find out from them that these thefts are increasingly frequent in Longmont.” 

Longmont hasn’t been spared from this epidemic of catalytic converter theft. According to statistics provided by Longmont Public Safety’s crime analysis division, cases have spiked over the past few years. There were zero cases reported in 2018, three cases reported in 2019, with a jump to 12 in 2020. So far there have been 38 cases and a total of 52 catalytic converters stolen in 2021.

“It’s a quick crime for a pretty good reward, so it definitely hasn’t made it any easier for us when so many people are doing it,” said Detective Cassidy Jones of Longmont Public Safety.

Depending on the vehicle, the removal can be done quickly with a battery-operated saw. Catalytic converters don’t typically have serial numbers, which make them difficult to track down and return to the vehicle owner. According to Det. Jones, fleet vehicles are a prime target because they are often unattended after a business or organization has closed. Other targets are abandoned vehicles or dimly lit areas.

“I personally interviewed a catalytic converter thief and he told me he was specifically targeting vehicles  that had been left abandoned on the side of the road, or broken down for whatever reason. Quick and easy when nobody is around,” Det. Jones said.

The rash of thefts is compounding a shortage of catalytic converters as the cost of the precious metals inside have risen. 

“Precious metals have gone up, they’re worth more. Where to sell it gets harder, unless you know a scrap company that takes them without looking into it,” said Mike Grubbs, owner of Longmont’s Twin Peaks Auto Repair. “I get calls to buy them, but I don’t because they are probably stolen and I don’t want to get involved with that.”

Grubbs pointed to a few reasons that catalytic converters are harder to replace.

“Colorado moved to the stricter California emission standards starting January 2021. So new converters are more costly to replace,” Grubbs said. “In addition, because the thefts are happening nationally and not just in Longmont, replacements are getting harder to find depending on the car model.”

Grubbs said if he has the model in his Denver warehouse, it can be replaced the next day. Other models can take weeks or months.

“The mechanic who will be replacing John's said one customer had to wait two months for a replacement part,” Carter said. “He advised John to jump on an available part for his truck, as there were only three left nationally.”

Some manufacturers are beginning to put deterrents into cars, but kits like clamps, plates and welded straps can be difficult to install at home, as well as expensive. CatClamps, a steel cage that can be installed around the converter, run from $176 to almost $1000 for the parts, depending on the model. The steel plates that can be fitted over some models also cost hundreds of dollars on Amazon. 

Longmont Public Safety is working with other agencies, including Colorado State Patrol to combat the issue but preventive measures are hard. Storing a vehicle in a well-lit area, a locked garage or fenced in area can help deter would-be thieves, but aren’t perfect methods. 

The Colorado State Patrol said they are developing a free program in partnership with Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment that places a unique marking on the catalytic converter. That unique identifier is registered in the National Crime Information Center to allow law enforcement and scrap recycling businesses to quickly identify stolen parts.

“The million dollar question is how we prevent this quick, high-impact crime, and I don’t know that anyone has an answer yet,” Det. Jones said. “(Residents) being vigilant and letting us know when (a theft) happens helps us be more proactive. Unfortunately it’s all after the fact, it’s not a solution or prevention. We can try and reduce it, and when we do find the thieves charge them appropriately.”

Det. Jones said while awareness of the crime is growing, not everyone is aware unless they have been impacted by it. Longmont Public Safety encourages residents to report things that seem out of place, like people under cars late in the evening, to help stem the tide of crime.

“We can’t be everywhere, and we depend on people calling in things that don’t look quite right. It’s a hard fact that a lot of these will not be solved, because we can’t bring them back to their victims and re-identify them,” Det. Jones said. “But it's still important that we make that report, so that we can keep track — either calling in or making an online report — so that we can gauge what’s going on. And when there’s a large area targeted, we can shift our resources and add extra patrols.”