Man Arrested In Woodbridge, Charged With Buying Stolen Car Parts

WOODBRIDGE, NJ — Earlier this March, Patch reported that police across New Jersey are seeing a spike in catalytic converter thefts, with cars being hit throughout Central and North Jersey and even on the Rutgers campus.

Now police said they charged a South River man with purchasing stolen catalytic converters.

The man was arrested last Wednesday, March 23 at his place of employment in Woodbridge. Police did not specify where exactly in Woodbridge he works. But they did say he works as a purchasing supervisor.

Jozef Kiszka, 42, of South River was charged with theft and receiving stolen property. He was also charged with conspiracy to steal the converters.

Thieves slice off converters from the underside of cars and then usually sell them at a high mark-up at either auto body shops or junkyards.

His arrest was led by the Bergen County Prosecutor's office, which has been doing a catalytic converter theft investigation for the past several months. The prosecutor says Kiszka purchased several stolen catalytic converters from multiple people over the past several months, knowing they had been stolen.

Woodbridge Police helped with the investigation and to make the arrest, said the Bergen County Prosecutor.

A catalytic converter is found in a car's undercarriage and it is designed to reduce the pollutants and toxic gases the engine produces. Catalytic converters are made out of precious metals, including platinum, and right now they can be re-sold at a very high mark-up on the black market. Palladium, another precious metal used in converters, is also selling at an all-time high right now due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The problem is so bad that Rutgers campus police say they have increased patrols of on-campus parking lots specifically because of the increase in catalytic converter thefts.

He was released on his own recognizance pending a first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack.

Get great local news. Sign up to get Patch emails: https://patch.com/subscribe Contact this Patch reporter: Carly.baldwin@patch.com