Date: October 15, 2019Share

St. Albert RCMP Warn about Rise in Thefts of Catalytic Converters

St. Albert RCMP are seeing a rise in thefts of catalytic converters in St. Albert, particularly when the vehicle is left parked for a few hours or overnight in shopping mall or store parking lots, in front of closed businesses and in industrial areas.

While August 2019 saw one catalytic converter theft, St Albert RCMP received 11 reports of catalytic converter thefts in September. So far, October has shown 2 thefts of catalytic converters from St. Albert vehicles and one attempted theft. The most recent theft happened on the Thanksgiving weekend, when a grey 2005 Honda CRV left in a staff parking lot at the Sturgeon Community Hospital had the catalytic converter cut out and stolen.

Catalytic converters contain expensive metals that criminals are selling for a profit, but the owner of the damaged vehicle incurs a hefty repair bill. Replacing a stolen catalytic converter can cost the vehicle owner up to $2000.00 per vehicle.

Catalytic converters can easily be removed by sliding under the vehicle and sawing through the piping. This means that trucks, vans and SUV’s are more at risk for catalytic converter thefts as they are easier to crawl under.

To prevent catalytic converter thefts:

• Park in well lit areas when possible
• If you have a garage, park your vehicle inside
• Park close to building entrances, or close to roads so there is more people passing by your vehicle that could see when something is wrong
• Report any suspicious behaviour around parked vehicles.

If you have information about this crime OR ANY OTHER CRIMINAL OFFENCE and would like to remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers by phone at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), online at p3tips.com, or with the P3 Tips app. Crime Stoppers does not collect information about your identity. A tip leading to an arrest may be eligible for a reward of up to $2,000.

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