'It happened so fast:' Catalytic converter thieves becoming more brazen in nationwide trend

It only took the 15 minutes Heather Pugh spent shopping at a store at The Trails in Silverdale for a thief to cut the catalytic converter from her 2005 Toyota Prius.

At about 1:30 p.m. on Dec. 31, Pugh left Mud Bay at the Trails. She started her car in the parking lot and heard a loud noise. A passerby helped take a look underneath and told her that it looked like someone had stolen her catalytic converter.

Pugh saw wires dangling and a hat left behind on the snowy ground.

"It was pretty shocking that it happened so fast," Pugh said.

Pugh drove her car back home and later headed to an auto shop, bracing for the cost of the repair.

"If I had known the risk associated with leaving your car in a parking lot, I feel like I would either not go alone, or leave someone in the car, or maybe I would park right in front of a business, you know, just to deter some of that risk," Pugh said.

A recent surge of catalytic converters thefts seen across the country has been observed locally in Kitsap County as a member of the Legislature has introduced a bill to try to reduce the thefts.

Thefts in Kitsap

Bryan Davis, the manager of Kitsap Muffler & Brakes on W. Belfair Valley Road in Bremerton, has observed an increase of catalytic converter thefts in the past few months.

Typically, his shop sees two to three vehicles a month that must have their catalytic converters replaced after being stolen. But in the last 30 days, Davis said he's seen 30 to 40 cars, sometimes up to two vehicles a day.

"It's definitely a huge problem over here," Davis said.

A catalytic converter is used in vehicles to control engine exhaust emissions. The device converts toxic gases and pollutants into water vapor and carbon monoxide and is located on a vehicle's exhaust system between the engine and muffler.

A rise in the price of scrap metals that make up the converters drives people to steal the device, Davis said. Generally, thieves are after metals like platinum and rhodium. Sometimes the precious metal is worth more than gold.

The price of rhodium spiked from $2,000 an ounce on March 20, 2020, to $27,000 on March 19, 2021, and returned to $16,500 as of Jan. 9, according to Kitco. The price of platinum rose from $608 an ounce in March 2020 to $1,266 in February 2021 and went back to $959 as of Sunday.

To compare, the price of gold was $1,797, according to Kitco.

"I hate to say it because they're thieves, but they're smart thieves," Davis said. "They know what vehicles to get the cats (catalytic converters) out of because of a dollar value that's enough."

Thieves striking vehicles of all sizes

It's not just cars that are at risk.

Gail Sandlin had the catalytic converter and muffler of her RV stolen while it was in for service at the Clear Creek RV Center in Silverdale.

Sandlin, one of Davis' customers, brought her RV to Clear Creek RV for minor bodywork in September, and when she picked it up on Oct. 11, it was making a loud noise, she said.

She drove to Kitsap Muffler & Brakes to get the issue diagnosed and found out the catalytic converter was stolen. She reported the theft to Clear Creek RV, and the Kitsap County Sheriff's Office took a report of the theft, Sandlin said.

Clear Creek RV did not return calls to the Kitsap Sun to answer questions on Sandlin's case or whether other RVs were hit by thieves.

Sandlin said she paid $915.55 to the muffler shop and her insurance company paid the remaining balance.

"All I know is that I’m out a great deal of money," Sandlin said.

Bill aims to crack down on thefts

A state legislator has introduced a bill this session that aims to stop scrapyards from buying precious metals from unknown sellers.

Sen. Jeff Wilson, R-Longview, last month filed Senate Bill 5495, which requires scrapyards in the state to produce records for every sale involving precious metals, to include the name, street address and telephone number of the person who sells the metal to the scrapyard.

If the legislation is passed, scrap metal businesses could only buy catalytic converters from commercial enterprises or the owner of the vehicle from which the catalytic converter was removed.

The bill would make it a gross misdemeanor for scrap dealers to purchase or receive private metal property knowing that the property subject to the transaction is stolen. Each offense could be subject to a $1,000 fine.

The Kitsap County Sheriff's Office says deputies have taken 44 reports of stolen catalytic converters in the past five months.

"We get reports on those (catalytic converters thefts) all the time," Kitsap County Sheriff's Office spokesman Sgt. Ken Dickinson said. "It's a national trend that those getting stolen."

Describing such theft as "a common crime," Dickinson said adding restrictions on selling the stolen catalytic converters to metal scrap yards could help.

Reach breaking news reporter Peiyu Lin at pei-yu.lin@kitsapsun.com or on Twitter @peiyulintw.

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This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: Catalytic converter thefts surge in Washington, nationwide