Police: Thieves target catalytic converters in broad daylight
By MATT MCFARLAND
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CHESHIRE, Connecticut (WFSB) — In Cheshire Police say thieves are targeting drivers and swiping catalytic converters in broad daylight.
Police in Cheshire say some people have had their catalytic converters stolen right in the middle of the day.”
Cheshire Police Department Chief Neil Dryfe said, “being done in broad daylight is kind of an eye opener for us, most of our previous incidents happened in the overnight hours.”
Like many cities and towns across Connecticut, Dryfe says dealing with catalytic converter thefts is nothing new, they’ve had 49 sawed off and stolen since January of 2021.
The last five have been alarming.
“It certainly caught our attention the fact that this was done so quickly in school parking lots and other commercial lots,” said Dryfe.
Thieves hit cars parked at Cheshire High School and Chapman School, along with the strip mall on South Main Street, and the salon and spa a little further down the street.
“We’ve gone out and canvassed everywhere that we can think of in order to find video surveillance hoping that would be our best lead, trying to identify a vehicle or some suspects, but unfortunately where these vehicles were parked in the lots, we don’t have anything viable at this point,” said Dryfe.
Dryfe adds, in the daylight thefts, thieves targeted a Toyota Prius and late model Honda CRVs, where the catalytic converter is more easily accessible.
Thieves can get anywhere from $100 to $250 a piece for the part, which contains precious metals.
“As long as there is a market for that, people are going to steal them unfortunately,” said Dryfe. “These are probably being taken out of state, not being sold at organized or legitimate, licensed scrap yards and dealers.”
So, while there is no sure-fire way to prevent these thefts, the chief says there are some tips to take. “If it has to stay outside, have the car as close to your home as possible.”
When you’re out during the day, “parking in lots by other cars, where there’s going to be people going back and forth, there is more of a chance that people are not going to target cars in that circumstances because there’s going to be witnesses.”
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