A hot item

Catalytic converters on vehicles are a hot item right now for thieves and Chandler Police and the Lincoln County Sheriff’s office are among area officers investigating the thefts.

Since late February, Chandler police have responded to several calls about the converters stolen off of various vehicles.

Lincoln County Sheriff’s Capt. Chuck Brewer said this week the thefts are occurring throughout the county and all over the state.

According to a police report by Chandler Police Officer Chris Hawkins, he was dispatched to Hudiburg in Chandler in late February on a reported theft from a box truck on the lot. An individual was caught on camera in the early morning hours leaving the car lot headed north on Blaine.

Hawkins states in the report that when employees came in they found the catalytic converter had been cut off the truck.

The suspect left the battery pack of a saw on the scene that was collected as evidence, the officer stated, and will be sent off for fingerprinting.

In another report filed by Hawkins, he relates he was dispatched to Bowen Chevrolet in late February on a theft from a pickup truck. On his arrival, he talked with an employee who showed him the truck had two catalytic convert ers cut out from underneath the truck.

The converters cost around $1,500 each, Hawkins said in his report. The suspects left two saw blades on the ground that were collected and placed into evidence for fingerprints, he said.

Hawkins noted that video camera footage shows two suspects came from the south side of the car lot. They walked up near the building then to the west side where the truck was located.

The officer pointed out the incident happened roughly at the same time someone was cutting the catalytic converters off a truck in the Hudiburg car lot.

Brewer explained the catalytic converters contain precious metals. He said copper prices have dropped significantly, but the converters have a precious metal called Rohdium.

“Rohdium prices have skyrocketed 800 percent so these thieves can steal these converters to pay for their drugs,” Brewer said.

“We’ve seen these thefts all around the county. We’ve been investigating some of them,” he added.

Brewer commented that several different groups have been stealing them.

He said he was aware they had hit the two dealerships in Chandler.

In another report, Chandler Police Officer Tammi Batman said she was dispatched on March 5 around 2:45 p.m. to a reported larceny at 403 N. Industrial in Chandler. She reported the catalytic converter had been stolen off a church van.

She met with the church pastor who advised he wasn’t sure when the larceny occurred. He told her he only noticed it when he went to fill up the van for a church function.

The pastor reportedly informed Batman he discovered two saw blades in the parking lot near where the van was parked.

The officer reported she took photos of the two blades and bagged them for evidence.