City seeing spike in catalytic converter thefts in 2021

Through nine months in 2021, there have been 631 thefts of catalytic converters. There were 274 total in all of 2020.

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Lincoln Police say catalytic converter thefts are on the rise in the city.

Through nine months in 2021, there have been 631 thefts of catalytic converters. There were 274 total in all of 2020.

Pat Leach, the owner of Leach Camper Sales described how he and his team felt when his business fell victim to catalytic converter thefts back in 2020.

 “You just kind of felt accosted,” Leach said.

Leach says in one weekend last year, he had around 10 catalytic converters stolen from his RVs.

“Our inventory is really big so it’s really hard to watch all this stuff.” he said.

In the year since, Leach says he’s invested in extra security cameras and even an engraving tool to label all of the catalytic converters on his RVs.

“If somebody comes in and steals one and tries to recycle it, our name’s on it and so consequently, [dealers will] know that it’s one that’s been cut off and stolen,” Leach said.

The security measures have worked. Leach says hasn’t had his catalytic converters stolen since Labor Day of last year.

When Leach had his converters stolen last year, he got them replaced at Zig’s Mufflers.

Zig’s owner Brett Zigler says that catalytic converters are targeted because of the precious metals inside of them.

“They’re going after the catalytic converters because they’re getting anywhere from $300 to $800 per cat when they steal them,” Zigler said.

Zigler explains that there is a difference in value between the catalytic converter you get from a dealership versus an aftermarket cat.

“If they go back to the dealer and have the original cats put on the vehicle, they could possibly get stolen again, just because they still have the same precious metals as they did when the vehicle was originally built,” he said.

Zigler estimates that aftermarket catalytic converters have a resale value of $10 to $50 and are distinguishable enough from factory cats to discourage thieves from stealing them.

“Most likely they will get underneath the vehicle and see an aftermarket converter, they’re probably not going to steal it because they ain’t gonna get hardly any money out of it,” Zigler said.

In September of 2020, there were 38 catalytic converter thefts. This September? 116.

“As long as there’s somebody buying them they’re gonna steal them,” Leach said.

In addition to some of the suggestions made by Leach and Zigler, it’s advised that you try to keep your vehicles in well-lit areas to avoid catalytic converter thefts.