Catalytic converter theft

The way I see it you have a few options. 1 do nothing and don’t worry about getting violated
2 remove your converter sell it straight pipe it and hope emissions testing never comes back to mn witch it will because of all the thefts.
3 catch them in the act groin stomp kick in head strip them neked and hog tie them shove a corn cob or the converter (your choice) up their arse and duck tape them to a light pole in front of a news station with a sign explaining why.

Any one see this. Relevant to the topic here:

ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) — Police in St. Paul say a man was shot early Sunday while trying to fend off a group of catalytic converter thieves.

The St. Paul Police Department said it happened around 2:40 a.m. on the 1100 block of Marion Street.

A man in his 20s confronted multiple people who were allegedly trying to steal a catalytic converter. He was shot in the arm and chest.

Police say he was taken to Regions Hospital in a private vehicle and is expected to survive.

No arrests have been made, and the shooting is under investigation.

For those that choose to confront and shoot someone that is not inside your home … good luck. The cost of your legal fees can be the measure of your pride because it will far outpace any insurance loss deductibles.

Everyone here take the time to email your MN representative and senator. Tell them they need to make it tougher to sell these parts and increase fines and sentencing … you should get a reply.

It is a redistricting election year. Seems like an easy one to get through.

There are aftermarket parts that you can install that really deter or eliminate theft. Neighbor put a couple on their vehicles (top the list) and said the cost was about the same as his insurance deductible.

Brittman wrote:

There are aftermarket parts that you can install that really deter or eliminate theft. Neighbor put a couple on their vehicles (top the list) and said the cost was about the same as his insurance deductible.

Pretty sad you will have to spend more money on a device to make it harder for someone to steal. Sounds like bandaids to me. If everyone would would push back at the thieves maybe we could make a change instead of hiding from it.

blackbay wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Bearcat89 wrote:</div>
Kick them right in the teeth

How does one kick a meth head in the teeth?

For all of you deleting cats and replacing with straight exhaust, do you wait till warranty is off? I know guys that had warranty denied because of exhaust not being stock.

For all of you deleting cats and replacing with straight exhaust, do you wait till warranty is off? I know guys that had warranty denied because of exhaust not being stock.
[/quote]

No not at all. And my truck was in for warranty work yesterday. Only thing I have to remember is to take out my programmer before it goes in. They tried to deny my front cv due to my 2.5 inch lift but that’s under the 4 inch void. Never a exhaust related issue. And I strive a ram. They like to eat manifold gaskets and studs. If one was to be denied it would be mine. I don’t think you actually know any one who was denied because they changed there muffler unless they did shotty work

Deterrents work whether it is where you can or choose to park, cameras, or after market installs. Agree it is sad.

Stopping these guys is nearly impossible. The residential thieves are mostly 2AM – 4AM and the commercial lots they are so fast …

Now that I think of it … last spring a friend drove up to pick me up to go turkey hunting around 4AM. Guy in the cul de sac lost is cc around 3:45 … my buddy probably crossed paths with him.

One wonders even if caught … does the MN legal system let ’em go ?

punishments do not deter crime. murder is illegal, yet people kill others every day. possession of hard drugs will land you in jail or prison, yet our prisons and jails are over flowing with drug offenders. the methed out cat converter thief doesn’t care about the punishment or fines. you can’t get money from a person who doesn’t have any money.

phishingruven wrote:

punishments do not deter crime. murder is illegal, yet people kill others every day. possession of hard drugs will land you in jail or prison, yet our prisons and jails are over flowing with drug offenders. the methed out cat converter thief doesn’t care about the punishment or fines. you can’t get money from a person who doesn’t have any money.

I disagree. Murder is often a crime of passion where you lose control in the moment. Drugs are an addiction turning son against father and friend against friend. The people committing cat thefts are just looking at it as a quick way to make a buck. If you are a lazy low life and you were facing 5 years in prison for a few hundred dollar theft are you gonna risk it or maybe to find a less punitive crime to committ?

if punishment was a deterrent, the U.S would not have one of the highest, if not the highest, incarceration rates of any country in the world.

Is anyone getting the actual punishment laid out, with getting out early on parole or whatever? Not arguing just don’t think the punishments fit the crimes or are even used the way they were intended.

phishingruven wrote:

if punishment was a deterrent, the U.S would not have one of the highest, if not the highest, incarceration rates of any country in the world.

A lot of the people in prison are there on drug related charges, which is a trade that has addiction for users and massive profits for sellers which makes the rewards worth the risk. Deterants don’t work in this environment but cat theft doesn’t belong in this conversation.

There are also few countries in the world that have as many penatlies for drugs as america. Weve made drugs a priority for decades with little to show for it

I’m not saying that if there were harsher penalties these people stealing cats would stop being criminals. I’m saying they might stop stealing cats and instead go commit a different crime to make money. Whether that’s what would happen or not i dont know but i fail to see any reason to oppose harsher penalties for these losers.

big_g wrote:

For those asking if its worth stabbing or shooting someone over a stolen car part… ask the thief that question, they are the ones doing it. Holes in fuel tank bottoms is coming next… they don’t siphon anymore, they drill a hole in the plastic tank… that way it costs you a tow, new tank and vehicle down for a week or so. In Maui, they hit a hearse 2 weeks in a row, we installed a new tank… after a couple weeks wait for the part, they picked up and the next day was back… hole in the new tank again… a hearse.

They aren’t that ambitious here. They steal your license plates, drive in , fill it up and drive off. Hour later police are beating on your door. Lucky most don’t bother finding a similar car. Security camera usually
proves it wasn’t your car.
Saw on the internet. If it cost $150 to fill your car, and the fine for driving off without paying is $125. You still save $25.

John Rasmussen wrote:

Is anyone getting the actual punishment laid out, with getting out early on parole or whatever? Not arguing just don’t think the punishments fit the crimes or are even used the way they were intended.

Found this article which lays out some of the difficulty in prosecuting these thieves as well as some of the efforts being made to introduce new laws. The article doesnt make it seem like much progress is being made

Catalytic converter thefts surge as local, state officials seek tougher penalties

crappie55369 wrote:

I’m not saying that if there were harsher penalties these people stealing cats would stop being criminals. I’m saying they might stop stealing cats and instead go commit a different crime to make money. Whether that’s what would happen or not i dont know but i fail to see any reason to oppose harsher penalties for these losers.

That’s a thought process that is long gone in the great society, unfortunately. Similar to how gun laws make us safer. In reality, criminals will find a way around it and law abiding citizens suffer.

And EV’s. Just putting the pollutants at the beginning and end of the life cycle, instead of spreading it out over time.

Sorry to de-rail. Back to talking about pu$sy thefts.

I dont know if it has been answered but catalytic converters contain platinum inside. They have a high recycle value. (100-130.00 area). We used to ship truckloads of scrap converters back in 2002-2005. 26 pallets/totes of converters was worth 1.4 million dollars at the time.

I am sure these clowns only get half that but still worth a bit of money.

One thing you can do is spray paint a red X with high heat paint. This will make it tough to recycle. Some of the idiots out there stealing them might not be turned off by this but the smart ones will not take it with the red paint sprayed on. The police have told people to do this and I assume it is so they get flagged as stolen. Thats my guess.

Maybe we need to get the DNR involved and make laws that legit scrappers have to apply for tags and they can only scrap one per tag and the season is only open for a month a year. No valid tag number already registered with the state = immediate arrest at the recycling center.

Adam Steffes wrote:

Maybe we need to get the DNR involved and make laws that legit scrappers have to apply for tags and they can only scrap one per tag and the season is only open for a month a year. No valid tag number already registered with the state = immediate arrest at the recycling center.

Ya then put out a 100 page book of rules they have to follow to scrap a cat. And 100 different “special regulations” depending on vehicle type.
Maybe they’d just get fed up and quit.

Incase anyone is looking I may be able to help you out. Just let me know the size you need.

Attachments:

1. 

   cat.jpg
   

There is an article in the Star Tribune recently about the exponential rise of catalytic converter theft in the Twin Cities. Its not just Mpls or St Paul either. Suburbs like Bloomington, Eagan, Maplewood, Coon Rapids, and Shakopee are pretty high on the list. Short of catching someone in the act, there’s not a whole lot you can do other than park somewhere they can’t get to it. I didn’t realize that they literally have a higher value than gold right now.

https://www.startribune.com./catalytic-converter-thefts-soaring-in-twin-cities-suburbs/600169469/

im part of a few Tundra groups on facebook. probably a post or two every single day showing video footage of a thief in the act in someone’s driveway or a photo of a missing cat. seems like just a matter of time until we figure out a way to slow these crimes down.

I read an article the other day that they caught a ring in Iowa that was buying them illegally and shipping them around the country and even into Canada. I think going after the buyers will be the easier way to make a change. Cut off the head of the snake and the body dies

MX1825 wrote:

For all of you deleting cats and replacing with straight exhaust, do you wait till warranty is off? I know guys that had warranty denied because of exhaust not being stock.

The Magnuson-Moss act requires all dealers to prove- not just opine- that an aftermarket modification caused damage or failure to a warranted component.

Some dealers will simply tell you vocally it did, and most uninformed consumers (so most all consumers) will bend over and take it. And then people will spread these rumors online and BOOM- now dealers know they can get away with it in most cases.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnuson%E2%80%93Moss_Warranty_Act

And to keep on topic, yes, shoot the thieves if you catch them. Simple as.

Would a catalytic converter lock do anything at all?

Elon Musk secretly encouraging thefts to sell more Teslas…..read it on
Twitter..

Aboxy17 wrote:

Would a catalytic converter lock do anything at all?

The article I posted mentions a couple of methods that might deter a criminal. You can have an aluminum shield installed over it. That costs a couple hundred bucks. Some shops will apply a heat-resistant neon spray paint to it. Apparently only 2 of the thefts this year of catalytic converters have been neon painted, so that appears to be a pretty good deterrent.

Aboxy17 wrote:

Would a catalytic converter lock do anything at all?

Put the offenders you catch in a orange jumpsuit and have them pick up garbage downtown. Oh wait, that would show they had done something wrong we can’t do that. Lets catch them run them into court have the judge slap their hand and exclaim “bad boy”, that will fix it.

No a lock wouldn’t help anything.

Dutchboy wrote:

Put the offenders you catch in a orange jumpsuit and have them pick up garbage downtown. Oh wait, that would show they had done something wrong we can’t do that. Lets catch them run them into court have the judge slap their hand and exclaim “bad boy”, that will fix it.

No a lock wouldn’t help anything.

That’s the problem. The judges dont penalize these offenders once they are caught and if they are caught we have the “Freedom Fund” that bails these dirtbags out so they dont stay in jail and commit more crimes. Countless serious criminals have been bailed out only to offend again because of this.

I don’t want to get my hand slapped so I will bow out of this. We all know the problem but nobody will say it.