Once more, Sonoma County sees spike in catalytic converter thefts

The value of platinum has tanked to less than half of what it was seven years ago on the international commodities market, but news of that slide hasn’t appeared to reach criminal minds on the North Coast.|

The value of platinum has tanked to less than half of what it was seven years ago on the international commodities market, but news of that slide hasn’t appeared to reach criminal minds on the North Coast.

Platinum is one of several precious metals found in catalytic converters, an emissions control system in a vehicle’s undercarriage that has been a significant target for thieves in Sonoma County this year.

Since June 4, at least 20 people in Petaluma have reported their vehicles were stripped of catalytic converters. Sonoma County sheriff’s detectives are still working to catch a crew they suspect was responsible for many of at least 30 catalytic converter thefts during just one week in March. Santa Rosa police have received seven catalytic converter theft reports since January, with none solved so far.

“This has been a phenomenon that has impacted the entire Bay Area and beyond,” Petaluma police Sgt. Ed Crosby said. “It comes in surges and this is another one of those.”

Resold for $30 to $100 at illegal recyclers or on the black market, catalytic converters can cost car owners upwards of $1,000 to replace, Crosby said.

Platinum, palladium and rhodium are three precious metals found in catalytic converters, which use trace amounts of those metals, and sometimes others, to convert toxic pollutants in a car’s exhaust system, such as carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons, into less harmful ones.

The Petaluma thefts have occurred throughout residential areas of the city, on both the west and east sides, Crosby said.

Crosby, the Petaluma sergeant, said that thefts have occurred throughout the city and have not so far focused in one neighborhood. Crosby said that solving the crimes is a priority for his property crimes team, but he said he couldn’t divulge the tactics they’re currently using to track down the culprits. Part of the challenge is that it is a relatively quick and easy caper, requiring only a backpack and a battery-powered saw. Thieves crawl under vehicles, cut off or detach the part with tools and are gone within seconds.

“These crimes do occur pretty quickly and they’re not terribly noisy when they occur,” Crosby said.

In Santa Rosa, catalytic converters disappeared from seven vehicles, all parked in residential neighborhoods in the northwest part of town, Santa Rosa Police Detective Mark Azzouni said. Five were taken from Toyota SUVs or pickups and two from large Dodge pickups.

Azzouni said that the main metal recyclers for the region are in the East Bay, and while it’s possible those centers may include rogue operators that buy stolen scrap, there is likely a different avenue for thieves to sell stolen catalytic converters in bulk.

“A legitimate recycler would have to fill out paperwork and send reports to local law enforcement agency just like pawn shops do,” Azzouni said.

In an attempt to deter criminals from stealing the devices, California lawmakers passed a law that took effect in 2010 requiring recyclers to create a paper trail for all catalytic converter transactions, such as requiring a photo ID and other documentation from sellers.

Crosby said that some recycling centers sell used catalytic converters in bulk to other enterprises, including some that take the scrap overseas.

“My inclination is not to believe (that thieves are) stealing them in town and recycling them in town and there is better money for it elsewhere,” Crosby said. “It doesn’t strike me to the kind of thing you’ll do 20 times in the town you live in.”

Sonoma County Sheriff’s Detective Don Fletcher said that the intelligence they’ve gathered so far suggests that a group or groups from outside the area come in, hit multiple vehicles in an neighborhood then move on. For example, 18 catalytic converters were stolen within a span of about two hours in March from vehicles in Windsor.

“This is an organized crime,” Fletcher said.

The detective pointed out that the unknown thieves skipped homes with surveillance cameras or motion detection lights.

Catalytic converters can offer a quick hit of cash to criminals, but the theft creates a troublesome nuisance for car owners.

In an east Petaluma neighborhood off McDowell Boulevard, Christy Chandler, 49, got into her family’s Dodge Ram pickup on June 4 to take her daughter to a sporting event. She turned the key, backed out of her driveway and realized that pickup was making a loud, rattling noise. Her husband went underneath the vehicle to identify the problem.

The catalytic converter was gone.

“Never in a million years would I suspect someone would steal part of my car,” she said. “I’m still shaking my head, I can’t believe someone would go under my car.”

Chandler and her husband plan to have a new catalytic converter welded on with rebar to prevent this from happening again.

The detectives all suggested people take precautionary measures, such as installing motion lights, surveillance systems and, for vehicles models like the Toyota and Dodge vehicles often targets of this kind of theft, welding extra metal to catalytic converters to make them more difficult to steal.

“We understand the community is frustrated, we would be too,” Crosby said. “It’s an invasion of privacy and property. It’s a substantial loss.”

You can reach Staff Writer Julie Johnson at 521-5220 or julie.johnson@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @jjpressdem.

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