Philadelphia police bust catalytic converter theft ring
- Catalytic converter thefts on the rise, more than 64,000 thefts last year
- 11 people arrested in multimillion-dollar catalytic converter theft ring
- NYPD held prevention events for the public to help track thefts
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(NewsNation) — Police in Bucks County, Pennsylvania — just outside Philadelphia — took down close to a dozen people allegedly operating a multimillion-dollar catalytic converter theft ring.
A yearlong investigation involving a lot of undercover work and surveillance helped police dismantle the operation at TDI Towing in Philadelphia.
Video footage captured a person removing a catalytic converter off a car right on the TDI lot.
Investigators said that over a three-year period, TDI paid more than $8 million for the high-value car part. The company has been accused of buying an average of 175 converters a week.
Police have arrested 11 people, including Michael Williams, who police said ran TDI Towing and was the kingpin of the theft operation.
“You can see in some of the examples that we demonstrated here how brazen these people are. They can steal a catalytic converter in a matter of minutes if not under a minute,” Bucks County District Attorney Matthew Weintraub said.
The converters, which are attached to the bottom of vehicles, are used to mitigate or reduce pollution from a vehicle’s emissions. They are valuable because they’re made of precious metals like rhodium, platinum and palladium, which are more valuable than gold.
The New York Police Department has been aggressive with its push for prevention, holding events for the public to help track catalytic converter thefts.
The department’s Auto Crime Unit has held two free events for the public this year so far to etch serial numbers and QR codes onto catalytic converters for drivers. The department matched catalytic converters to vehicles’ VINs
New York state has a law requiring all junk yard and scrap metal companies that buy the converters to keep records identifying the sellers.
But not every state is as aggressive.
Catalytic converter thefts have been on the rise nationwide.
Insurance claims for the stolen devices increased from 16,600 in 2020 to 64,701 in 2022.
The top five states with the most thefts include California, Texas, Pennsylvania, Illinois and Washington.
The National Insurance Crime Bureau said there were more than 64,000 catalytic converter thefts last year.
Replacing the converters can be expensive, in some cases costing up to $3,500. Scrap metal dealers usually have a high interest in buying the converters and reselling them to recycling centers.
