Thieves Steal Nearly A Dozen Catalytic Converters In Arlington: Police

ARLINGTON, VA — About a dozen catalytic converters were stolen from cars early Wednesday morning in neighborhoods across North Arlington, according to the Arlington County Police Department.

The catalytic converters were stolen from nine vehicles. Cars with a dual exhaust system have two catalytic converters.

The thieves targeted vehicles in the Colonial Village, East Falls Church, Highland Park-Overlee Knolls, Lyon Village, Rock Spring and Westover Village neighborhoods, police said.

Witnesses reported seeing three to four Black males wearing bandanas near where some of the catalytic converters were stolen, according to police.

Catalytic converters are usually made up of three precious metals: platinum, palladium and rhodium. The value of the precious metals has risen sharply, with the prices paid for stolen catalytic converters increased in line with the higher values.

Police in Arlington and across the nation have seen the number of catalytic converter thefts drastically increase over the past couple of years.

Thieves are targeting Toyota Priuses, which are hybrids, in particular because of their electric batteries. The longer a gasoline-fueled engine runs, the more air passes through the catalytic converter. Over time, the precious metals begin to wear away. Since a Prius periodically runs off its battery instead of its gas-fueled engine, a Prius catalytic converter will retain more of its precious metals.

Meanwhile, four cars had their windows smashed and their airbags stolen Wednesday night. The four cars were Honda and Acura models.

The airbag thefts occurred in the 4200 block of 31st Street S. in the Shirlington area between 9:40 p.m. on Wednesday and 8 a.m. on Thursday, according to police.

No description of the suspects was provided to the police.

Officials say airbags are easy targets because they can be stolen quickly. And then they can be sold on the black market for $200.

The thieves could be stealing newer airbags from Hondas and then selling them to questionable repair shops or unsuspecting online customers at a price far below the $2,000 cost of replacing them, USA Today reported.

Anyone with information about the catalytic converter and airbag thefts is asked to contact the Police Department's Tip Line at 703-228-4180 or ACPDTipline@arlingtonva.us, or anonymously through the Arlington County Crime Solvers hotline at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477).

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