Calhoun County Cops “Swamped” By Ongoing Wave Of Thefts

Michigan State Police Troopers are asking for your help. At the same time, they’re sending out a warning. Thefts of catalytic converters from vehicle exhaust systems are on the rise. The Michigan State Police Marshall Post is going so far as to report several law enforcement departments in the area are "swamped" with reports of converter thefts.

Troopers at the Marshall post have been able to get a couple of photos of a suspect vehicle and a potential perpetrator. They’re not the clearest but might be enough for someone to recognize and offer some information.

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Many people think a catalytic converter would be the last thing a thief would want. But quite the contrary. Depending on the make, model, and year, some contain enough rare metals that they are worth the trouble to steal to then hawk to a scrap metal yard.
There’s a small amount of platinum, palladium, and rhodium in most catalytic converters. But you need the processing equipment to salvage the metals from the unit.

The automotive website JDPower says catalytic converters that are installed in some new vehicles are actually the most expensive component used in the build. It claims a Lamborghini model needs two converters at $3,770.00 each.

A new converter for the Ram 2500 is $3,460. And the unit going into new Ford F-250’s runs just over $2,800.

Scrap sales of used converters of course won't fetch nearly that much. But enough that thieves are apparently finding enough ready buyers to dive underneath vehicles to rip them out.