Thief crushed to death by car while stealing a catalytic converter, NC sheriff says
A North Carolina man was crushed to death by a car while trying to cut off and steal its catalytic converter, Union County sheriff’s investigators said Friday.
Officers found the man dead beneath a Toyota Prius sedan, one of “many vehicles” in the driveway of a home in the 3900 block of West Unionville Indian Trail Road, according to a Facebook post by the Sheriff’s Office.
Evidence showed the man was cutting off and trying to steal the converter when the car crushed and killed him at about 5:45 p.m. Wednesday, investigators said.
“The findings on scene indicated that at some point during the cutting of the exhaust pipe, the vehicle fell off of the automotive jack and on top of the male subject,” according to the post.
The man didn’t live at the home, sheriff’s officials said, but he was a “local resident.”
His name and age haven’t been released because of the ongoing investigation, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
The case highlights the dangers of trying to steal parts from vehicles, the Sheriff’s Office said.
“A catalytic converter and the small amount of scrap value it holds is not worth the risk of losing your life,” according to the post.
Catalytic converters contain valuable metals, including platinum, rhodium and palladium, and can be sold for $150 to $200 per piece at junk yards, The Washington Post reported, citing police. Replacing one can cost vehicle owners thousands of dollars, according to the Post.
Thieves need only a few minutes to cut a catalytic converter from a vehicle. Car owners often realize the converter was stolen only when they hear an irregular sound as they’re driving.
CMPD stats
In Charlotte-Mecklenburg, 1,463 converters were stolen this year through Sept. 26, according to the latest available figures, police Officer Thomas Hildebrand told The Charlotte Observer on Friday.
That compares to the 862 catalytic converters stolen in all of 2020 and the 218 converters stolen in 2019, he said.
CMPD expects to have updated 2021 figures in January, he said.
Thefts of the exhaust system devices had been “pretty uncommon” until the past two years, Major Cecil Brisbon said during a weekly CMPD news conference in April.
CMPD in April said its Steele Creek and University City divisions were seeing the most thefts.
New state law
On Dec. 1, a new state law took effect that makes the theft of a catalytic convert a class I felony with a mandatory $1,000 fine.
“Nearly every community in North Carolina is dealing with a rash of catalytic converter thefts,” State Sen. Thomas McInnis, R-Anson, said in September when Gov. Roy Cooper signed into law the catalytic converter bill McInnis sponsored, WBTV reported at the time. “I want to send a clear message to criminals that these thefts will not be tolerated.”
This story was originally published December 10, 2021 at 3:00 PM with the headline "Thief crushed to death by car while stealing a catalytic converter, NC sheriff says."