Lawmakers working to deter catalytic converter thefts in Massachusetts

By Mike Sullivan, WBZ-TV

NEWTON – Newton police are on the hunt for catalytic converter thieves after a spike in hits during the last month.

The division has seen 12 instances since mid-November. In 10 of the incidents, the car focused was a Toyota Prius.

The automobile is a excessive worth goal for thieves as a result of their catalytic converters have a better degree of palladium than the common converter. Native mechanics say the price of changing a converter has gone up, particularly for the reason that warfare in Ukraine. Russia is a significant contributor to palladium manufacturing.

“They’re saying it has $28,000 price of palladium metallic, or what have you ever. I want to see that myself,” questions mechanic John Mackenzie. “You are shopping for a Toyota Prius that prices $35,000 {dollars}, however you bought $28,000 price of that metallic in a converter? Somebody is fibbing. In the event you put an aftermarket converter on there you’ll save your self a 3rd of what the retail can be. So long as it’s California admissions it’s going to work. We in all probability do two a month, stolen converters.”

Newton police counsel automobile homeowners have cameras on their houses, go away their automobiles in a well-lit space, or mark the converter itself.

“Our neighbors on the Watertown Police Division have gone so far as etching the title of the division,” mentioned Newton Police Chief John Carmichael. “You may speak with a mechanic who can assist set up a metallic plate over the converter.”

A invoice that handed by means of the Home and is now within the Senate, goals to create extra paperwork through the sale of a converter. A vendor must go away detailed data and present proof of the place the half got here from.

“Buy must be transacted with a test, and never with money,” mentioned Consultant Steven Howitt, who’s behind the invoice. “Most individuals take a look at the invoice and say it is a no-brainer. It is necessary earlier than the tip of the yr, in any other case we now have to undergo the entire course of, and it is perhaps one other yr.”