I just hate thieves...

[Lost_N_Austin]

I used to think that one of the lowest forms of human scumbag was a Cat converter thief who would steal the Cat Converters from a group of Church School buses and then wait until they were replaced and come back and steal them again.

My new all-time worst scumbag Title goes to the thief's in this story. This in my home town and it is embarrassing to think it could be a neighbor or someone I know.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/s...allchief-stolen-and-sold-for-scrap/ar-AAWXK9C

Lost_N_Austin

 

[beyer160]

I would love to know what specific type of cutter they used to do this so quickly and cleanly. I'm not kidding.

The guys that did the place I used to work used Sawzalls. They left a trail of broken blades across the parking lot, they got about half a dozen vans.

 

[PennyroyalFrog]

Crime is rampant. Courts slap them on the wrist. Most I hear about have multiple arrests or convictions. One the other night had a dozen! They are often back on the street the next day and quite often get arrested for the same crime again before their first trial.

Crime is not rampant at all. At least not relatively speaking. Crime is nowhere close to as bad as it was in the 1980s. In fact, property crime is still declining. Violence, however, has been rising since a few years ago pre-pandemic but again, nowhere close to what it was 30-40 years ago.

 

[Matt Sarad]

Two Tundras had it happen in my neighborhood. One next door and another across the intersection.
Local cops found a chop shop with about 100 catcons.

 

[39martind18]

played horrible to boot!

Double ouch!

 

[Milspec]

Crime is not rampant at all. At least not relatively speaking. Crime is nowhere close to as bad as it was in the 1980s. In fact, property crime is still declining. Violence, however, has been rising since a few years ago pre-pandemic but again, nowhere close to what it was 30-40 years ago.

Give it a few months...recessions bring out the worst

 

[mike stanger]

oscillating tool with a metal-cutting blade or one of these

View attachment 984652

Those little battery powered mini circular saws can make it quick work for a thief too.

I hate thieves! I once busted a kid who boosted an amp off a stage after a show.
Trying to sell it to me was the biggest mistake he ever made. I said I needed any overnight to try it out, and after he left, I called the cops.
A stupid college kid. The cops were waiting when he returned for the money. His old man was wealthy, and got it fixed, but the school kicked him out and he left the state, never to return.
regards,
stanger

 

[trev333]

set an electric fence type device on the car... anyone who touches metal and grounds out will get zapped.... that'd surprise a few thieves...

 

[Spox]

One for the good guys, twenty five years ago someone I knew found her car had been stolen. It had some problems at the time and she couldn't afford to get it fixed but was still commuting in it. The police found it when raiding a chop shop and it was returned to her with a new clutch fitted, they must have been repairing it to sell.

Re crime going down, anyone who lives in the rougher end of an inner city knows that an awful lot of crime isn't even recorded to keep the numbers down. During the first lockdown I watched daylight stabbings directly outside my window which didn't even make the local let alone national news.

 

[Flat6Driver]

2010 Toyota Tundra has FOUR catalytic converters within about 4 feet of exhaust pipe.
Two on each side, four zips and then they cut the O2 sensor lines.

Thankfully they did not cut anything else.

Crap. I have a tundra. What is the skid plate you speak of?

 

[Flat6Driver]

A report it.Cops don’t make money on property crimes. They couldn’t care less.

That's not how cops work.

Frankly after the open crime spree of 2020, it's a wonder we have any cops left.

 

[Cpb2020]

It is happening in my neck of the woods too. I think it’s crazy that the insurance companies aren’t covering it. You’re almost better off if they steal the entire car as at least when that happens they don’t deduct the value of the cats.

About 12 years ago my car was stolen. Drug addict who would take the train up from the Bronx, steal credit cards and money from parked cars, then would steal a car to go back home. He was parking the stolen cars all within a 2 block radius.

I got it back with hundreds of dollars of coins in a shopping bag, 4 flat tires, and lots of bodily fluid on the inside of the windshield. Like he was spitting on it (at least that’s what I told myself).

It was partially (mostly) my fault. For many years, I parked in front of my neighborhood deli and grabbed a cup of coffee whilst I left the keys in the car on my way to the train. No more than 15 seconds as I always had exact change and they had my cup ready as I was so much a creature of habit. I changed the habit of leaving my keys in the car going forward.

 

[teleplayr]

I had a friend who worked for our city streets dept.

They came back to work on Monday and during the weekend someone came and took all the converters off all of the city vehicles.

 

[Mark617]

If they start to go after the scrap dealers…..then hopefully it becomes less desirable. They did that around here. Guys were stealing copper flashing and gutters from high end homes. Once the dealers started getting hauled in things changed

 

[3fngrs]

They ought to use those tools on the thieves. In public.

 

[trev333]

I can't recall hearing/seeing any news stories locally about converters being stolen off cars.. not to say it doesn't happen.

I'm sure they are saved from crashed cars, etc...

maybe they just take the whole car?....

 

[Flat6Driver]

We had a eash of this a few years ago in the commuter lot where I catch the train. I recall seeing a guy walk off the train, start his truck then have a meltdown when he realized his exhaust was dragging on the ground.

After about 2 year at home I'm supposed to come back to the office. The train lot is a fraction of what it used or be as far as traffic.

As a result of this thread, I decided to take the other car until I can get one of those shields.

 

[Alex_C]

Sometimes, the old ways are better. Removing a thieve's hand is a strong deterrent vs 3 square, a cot and a roof.

 

[Toadtele]

That's not how cops work.

Frankly after the open crime spree of 2020, it's a wonder we have any cops left.

I’m on the other side of the country from you. No crime spree here. And I am intimately aware of how our local law-enforcement works.

 

[Recce]

I would love to know what specific type of cutter they used to do this so quickly and cleanly. I'm not kidding.

I don’t know exactly but I have read they use a Sawzall.