JASON NEVEL| State Journal-Register
An employee at the U-Haul store on Stevenson Drive was ready to hand over a truck to a customer Monday morning — until he turned the key.
A thunderous roar came from the engine, and it was clear something was wrong. The catalytic converter had been stolen.
The truck was one of 29 U-Haul trucks, at two local U-Haul outlets, from which catalytic converters were stolen over the weekend. The U-Haul facility at 410 Bruns Lane lost 18 converters and the one at 1032 Stevenson Drive 11, according to police reports.
The incidents were the first catalytic-converter thefts in the capital city this year, Springfield police records show.
However, metal thieves also have targeted U-Haul stores recently in Peoria, Bloomington and Champaign. Fifteen catalytic converters were taken off U-Haul trucks last month in Peoria.
Gary Bush, national law enforcement liaison and director of theft prevention at the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, said catalytic converter thefts have been on the rise in the past few years.
Businesses with large vehicle fleets, car junkyards or scrap yards that buy catalytic converters are the most prone to thefts, he said.
“It’s pretty much anywhere there’s an opportunity,” Bush said.
What’s the worth?
Catalytic converters — used to reduce the toxicity of emissions from internal combustion engines — include metals such as platinum, palladium and rhodium.
Doug Nevill, owner of Nevill’s Auto Salvage, 1836 Groth St., said most catalytic converters are worth between $25 and $120. The price varies depending on the make and model of the vehicle, not necessarily the size, he said.
In the past 10 years, he said, prices have gone up on the metals found in the devices. Combined with the economy and greater awareness of their value, more catalytic converters are getting stolen today than 10 years ago, he said.
“Everybody is just finding out that they’re actually worth something,” Nevill said. “If they can get $100 apiece and make $1,100 in an hour, it’s fast money.”
But, like copper thefts from air conditioners, the damage to businesses far outweighs the price thieves can get for scrap, Nevill said.
According to a police report, it will cost the Springfield U-Haul stores $1,200 to $1,500 to repair each truck. A manager at the Stevenson store declined to comment.
How are they stolen?
Although trucks were targeted this weekend, authorities say catalytic converters on cars in people’s driveways are probably safe.
In order to steal a converter, thieves have to crawl under the vehicle and cut the device off with a saw. Getting underneath a car and using a saw isn’t easy, Bush said, which is why trucks are more accessible targets.
“It’s a lot higher off the ground and easier to get underneath,” he said.
Springfield Deputy Police Chief Cliff Buscher also said it would take too much time and be too noisy to saw off a catalytic converter in a residential neighborhood.
He said the thefts this weekend were the first such incidents he’s aware of in a long time. Sangamon County Undersheriff Jack Campbell said the only converter thefts he could recall were from auto salvage shops.
Tough to sell
Billy Johnson, spokesman for the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, said selling a stolen converter is tougher than selling copper.
Copper is found in many different places and comes in many different sizes. Catalytic converters, however, all look the same, he said.
Scrap-metal dealers also require identification, a home address and will have video or a photograph of someone selling an item in the store. Thefts also are catalogued in the website scraptheftalert.com, he said.
If an item turns out to be stolen, Johnson said dealers turn all the information over to police.
“We want to know what we’re buying and selling,” Johnson said. “We will make no bones about it and turn everything over to police.”
Jason Nevel can be reached at 788-1521.
