Jeez all done by two guys and a teenager!

They need to also find and prosecute the salvage yard that is paying these guys cash for obviously stolen cats.

These things are worth so much that they could have changed hands multiple times…

if the internet hates anything its cat stealers and their enablers

Ha! That's a nasty documentary

If it's not too much trouble my '07 Subie needs its cat back.

How pathetic do you have to be to steal catalytic converters?

Nah, there's more individuals and groups out there doing this. These guys didn't cover a whole bunch of the state.

The total number of converter thefts in VT is probably in the thousands.

I am glad that something is happening though, every little bit helps.

Summary:

Accused: Rusty Perry and Gary Bolton of Franklin Estates in Newark - and an un-named teenage boy. More suspects may be involved.

Also found: guns and illegal drugs.

Catalytic converters stolen from 15 towns: Orleans, St. Johnsbury, Lyndonville, Ryegate, Wells River, Barton, Norwich, Berlin, Barre, Shelburne, and S Burlington - plus, in NH: Lancaster, Lebanon, Keene, and Swanzey.

Car accident in Newark seems to have been the catalyst for the arrest.

Why are they so valuable? Do they have some other use besides for cars? Or is it just an expensive easily stealable car part that can be grafted onto other stolen (?) cars?

This is great news. Fuck these thieves.

They have rare earth metals and platinum. Here in Colorado we are #1 or 2 for stolen cats. So much so they say just let them take it because people are getting killed. We just passed a law that any scrapper who receives a cat has to report the id number within 24 hours or they are breaking the law. It's a shame it's happening in VT . I'm relocating from Colorado

It takes about 20 seconds to steal one. It's 20 seconds for $300-600 for these criminals

Caught by pure accident

We actually replaced ours for maintenance reasons recently and recycled the old cat legitimately. Bolduc outside Montpelier did things by the book and requested a lot of identification to process the transaction.

> people are getting killed

...

> an ill-gotten catalytic converter can “typically” fetch between $50 and $250 when sold to an unscrupulous recycling facility

https://ktla.com/news/catalytic-converter-thefts-which-vehicles-are-targeted-the-most/

Good god.

my car had cat stolen because it is unattended most of the time. Mechanic said it'd be restolen and just put a straight thru pipe & car now won't pass inspection. I'm told certain aftermarket converters are unattractive to thieves & they won't bother stealing them. Is this correct?

My work trucks cat got taken the Monday before Thanksgiving. I couldn’t work for two days but made it up driving on Thanksgiving and Friday.

https://www.reddit.com/r/cars/comments/yknn9l/justice_department_announces_takedown_of/

I wonder if they are the ones who stole mine off my truck and caused it to start a fire when started at the dealership

Don't ever go back to that mechanic again.

I run one of the largest salvage yard in the state and process cats. They contain platinum, palladium and rhodium. When the fuel in your engine burns it has to combine with oxygen. Oxygen naturally comes as O2 with two of them bonded together. Inside the cat there are tiny spikes of these metals that cause the O2 to break in two.

When the oxygen is floating around as single atoms it causes the combustion temperature to drop substantially causing more complete burning of the exhaust products and a cleaner exhaust.

First, that is completely insane advice by the mechanic.

Second, that is correct. Aftermarket cats have far less platinum group metals inside of them.

Once, years ago now, I had around 200 stolen in one night from my salvage yard. Very clearly some sort of semi organized crew.

Plenty of buyers without yards that are just breaking the cats open and selling the foils/mesh to the refiners.

> catalyst for the arrest.

good one

Sounds like a purr fect documentary, fur real.

I should qualify: mechanic suggested a temporary straight thru pipe rather than a $750 toyota conveter, while I look for a cheaper alternative, rather than having the 2nd cat stolen again. I'm actually grateful to this mechanic

Ohh it sounded like he was suggesting that as a permanent fix!

Yeah get an aftermarket cat. Not a racing cat, just an aftermarket replacement.