1 Charged In Ongoing Putnam Probe Into Catalytic Converter Thefts

PUTNAM COUNTY, NY — The Putnam County Sheriff's Office reports the arrest of a Connecticut teen accused of stealing catalytic converters and suspected in several incidents in Southeast and Carmel.

It's part of an epidemic of catalytic converter thefts across North America. In the region, the most recent included two incidents in which suspects rammed police cars while attempting to escape:

On Wednesday police in Norwalk, Connecticut found 13 catalytic converters in the trunk of a BMW that rammed a police car when officers responded to witnesses reporting its occupants were cutting something under another car; and on Tuesday, catalytic converter theft suspects crashed into a police car trying to evade arrest in Yonkers. Three catalytic converters and a battery-operated metal saw were discovered in a search of that car, police said.

SEE MORE:

• Catalytic Converter Thieves Caught In The Act: YPD
• Look Out For Catalytic Converter Thefts In Mamaroneck
• 3 Men Arrested In Catalytic Converter Theft On Long Island
• 2 Charged In Attempted Catalytic Converter Thefts In CT

The Putnam Sheriff's Office received a complaint Feb. 7 from a business on Tilly Foster Road who reported a catalytic converter stolen overnight from a vehicle parked in their lot. An investigation and canvass of the area by the department's investigators determined another converter was stolen from a separate vehicle at a nearby business that had yet to be discovered by the owner, Sheriff Kevin J. McConville reported.

Investigators were assisted by surveillance cameras showing the thefts had occurred at 8:30 p.m. Feb. 6, when a man cut the converters off both vehicles with a battery-powered circular saw. Further investigation revealed more than one suspect — and their vehicle — had been involved in another crime later the same night which had been handled by New York State Police Brewster.

With assistance from investigators of the NYSP, sheriff's investigators identified a suspect. He was located and interviewed at the Westchester Medical Center where he was being treated for an injury unrelated to the converter thefts.

He admitted to committing the thefts, police said.

On March 16 he was arrested at the Town of Patterson Court when he appeared for a prescheduled court date for unrelated charges, police said.

The 19-year-old Bridgeport, Connecticut, man faces charges including 2 counts of Grand Larceny 4th, Auto Stripping 2nd, Criminal Mischief 2nd, and Criminal Mischief 3rd, all felonies.

He was arraigned and released without bail and is due to appear on the charges in the Town of Southeast Court on April 7.

Sheriff's investigators assisted Carmel Police detectives handling similar incidents involving the same suspects, the sheriff said. The investigation is ongoing, and the identities of additional suspects and arrests are pending.

Catalytic converter thefts have skyrocketed nationwide, according to AAA, from about 100 a month before the pandemic to more than 5,000 a month. The emission control devices contain valuable metals, like platinum, palladium or rhodium.

The National Insurance Crime Bureau said thieves often target sport utility vehicles because their ground clearance is high enough for easy access.