Bellingham seeing surge in catalytic converter thefts, with this one model targeted heavily
Catalytic converter thefts in Bellingham during the first half of 2021 have already surpassed 2020 totals, with thieves targeting one model of cars in particular.
With two reported thefts last weekend, the Bellingham Police Department has received 40 reports of catalytic converter thefts so far this year, Lt. Claudia Murphy told The Bellingham Herald in an email.
That’s four times more than the 10 that were reported during the first six months of 2020 and already five more than the 35 thefts reported in Bellingham all of last year, Murphy reported.
Unfortunately, thefts have been picking up — there have been 16 so far in the month of June after there were only two in May, according to Murphy. The next highest month so far this year was February, when there were nine thefts reported.
Surprisingly, nearly half of the converter thefts this year — 17 so far, including six in June — have been off of the Toyota Prius model, prompting Murphy to say, “you really have to be thin or someone with long arms to cut that converter out from under that low riding Prius.”
Though Bellingham is obviously a prime market, with a high number of Prii (yes, that’s Toyota’s official plural for Prius) on area roads, the City of Subdued Excitement is not the only one to see Prii being targeted. Houston Police told TV station KHOU that Prii were highly targeted heavily in that city, especially 2009 models and older, and several other cities have reported similar trends.
The reason catalytic converters are targeted in the first place, Murphy previously told The Herald, was because of the valuable metals inside that can be scrapped and sold.
Catalytic converters use precious metals, such as rhodium, platinum and palladium, to change harmful chemicals, such as nitrogen dioxide, nitric oxide and carbon monoxide, into something less harmful to the environment, such as carbon dioxide or water vapor, according to a hotcars.com article.
And therein lies the reason that Prius catalytic converters are more valuable to thieves, according to hotcars.com. The Prius and other hybrid cars are so environmentally friendly, they produce less of the harmful chemicals catalytic converters are intended to filter out, and therefore, there is less corrosion to the precious metals inside a converter, making them worth more.
But Prius owners aren’t the only ones being targeted for their catalytic converters, which can be cut out from under parked cars in a matter of minutes but run more than $1,000 to replace. In June, there have also been six Honda Elements and two Toyota Highlanders targeted, Murphy reported.
This is not the first time Whatcom County has seen an increase in catalytic converter thefts, as the crime was seen throughout Whatcom County in early 2019.
“It’s a unique crime,” former Lynden Police Chief John Billester told The Bellingham Herald at the time. “Crimes of theft kind of ebb and flow. We’re definitely in the flow with these.”
In June of 2019, the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office arrested the owner of a local scrap metal recycling company on suspicion of running a “crew of thieves” that allegedly was partially responsible for a rash of more than 100 catalytic converter thefts in a nine-month period causing more than $100,000 in losses. Whatcom County Superior Court records show Shawn Alan Bannon, 52 of Blaine, is scheduled to stand trial beginning Aug. 9 on eight counts of first-degree stolen property trafficking.
Tips to prevent thefts
Bellingham Police Lt. Claudia Murphy previously offered these tips to help prevent catalytic converter thefts, which she said most often target trucks, SUVs, vans and buses:
▪ If you can’t park in a locked garage, park the car in well-lit, well-traveled areas, making it less attractive to thieves as an option.
▪ If you have a security system, calibrate it to sound upon vibrations.
▪ Engrave the vehicle’s identification number, or VIN, onto the converter, making it harder to sell and a lot easier to track.
▪ If your catalytic converter is stolen, report it right away to law enforcement and let them know if the VIN number is on it.
