Thieves using saws to steal expensive car parts
By Tom Peterson
A recent hiker at Deschutes State Park found out how valuable his exhaust system was - the hard way.
After a three-day campout up river, he returned to his Acura MDX parked in the gravel parking lot near the entrance to the park on July 21.
But the car would not run. On further inspection, he found a crook had cut out his catalytic converter. The car had to be towed.
Catalytic converter for an Acura MDX, similar to the one that was recently cut out of a vehicle at Deschutes State Park. Cost for a new one: $1,200.
Catalytic converter for an Acura MDX, similar to the one that was recently cut out of a vehicle at Deschutes State Park. Cost for a new one: $1,200.
It’s an old game, according to The Dalles Police Chief Pat Ashmore, noting thieves have been cutting the converters out and selling them for scrap for years.
They can fetch from $50 to several hundred dollars a piece at scrap yards depending on the quality. They contain precious metals such as platinum, palladium and rhodium to help convert toxic gases and pollutants from the engine to less-toxic pollutants.
“It’s the first one we have had out here,” said Sherman County Undersheriff James Burgett. “I’d have to think cutting it out would have caused a lot of noise.”
The Acura was near the train tracks, and the thief could have used the noise of a train to blot out the noise from his cutting tool.
It is speculated that thieves are using reciprocating saws to cut the converters out of the exhaust line. Saw blades have been found at multiple crime scenes.
Burgett said it is fairly simple to find recyclers looking to purchase them, as he found one such business on Facebook.
“It’s like when we used to have copper thefts, and thieves would do $20,000 of damage to a new home to get $200 worth of copper,” he said.
Tim Urness of C.H. Urness Motors said the theft of catalytic converters out of newer vehicles cost the dealership more than $10,000 in damages at the start of the year. Thieves used a reciprocating saw to cut the parts out that can then be sold for scrap at $50 to $150 a piece. Meanwhile replacement costs run more than $4,000. No one has yet been pinned for the crime.
Tim Urness of C.H. Urness Motors said the theft of catalytic converters out of newer vehicles cost the dealership more than $10,000 in damages at the start of the year. Thieves used a reciprocating saw to cut the parts out that can then be sold for scrap at $50 to $150 a piece. Meanwhile replacement costs run more than $4,000. No one has yet been pinned for the crime.
Tim Urness of C.H. Urness Motors in The Dalles has the receipts to prove that point. Derelicts cut out catalytic converters on two Urness’ vehicles in January - a 2019 Chevrolet Silverado and a 2017 Ford F250. They were parked facing the railroad track in the parking lot across from The Dalles Chamber of Commerce.
Reciprocating saw - thieves likely used a tool similar to this to cut catalytic converters out of vehicles in our region.
Thieves likely got $300 for the converters. Total repair costs: $8,577.
“They’re ballsy, absolutely ballsy,” Urness said. “I would have paid them the $300 not to cut them off,” he said from his office on Wednesday.
Witnesses said they saw the culprit cut out the converters from the Urness vehicles when the train was passing by to block out the noise. But no positive identification was made.
Once Urness discovered the theft, he said he had the remaining vehicles on the lot turned around to face second street so that police would be able to easily see anything unusual.
Two weeks later, Urness said somebody cut a hole in their fence near the Super 8 Motel to access catalytic converters that had been removed from vehicles. The company planned on returning them for $450 a piece. Thieves took all five, he said.
“It’s very, very frustrating.”
The crime is a class C felony theft in the first degree. It carries a maximum of five years in state prison and a fine not to exceed $125,000. However, the property crime falls fairly low on the priority chart, when compared with crimes against people. Criminals charged with the crime are oftentimes left to return to court upon their own recognizance when charged with the crime. What some call a “catch and release.”
Urness said the situation was both frustrating for him and police. “Their needs to be consequences or responsibility.”
Tommy Brace with The Dalles Auto Sales stands next to a Ford Explorer that had its catalytic converter sawed off. The cost of the damage was enough to make the vehicle unsellable, he said.
Tommy Brace with The Dalles Auto Sales stands next to a Ford Explorer that had its catalytic converter sawed off. The cost of the damage was enough to make the vehicle unsellable, he said.
On west Sixth Street, Tommy Brace recently reported the theft of a catalytic converter. He and Yvonne Walton both said it was a common occurrence out back of The Dalles Auto Sale’s shop.
Thieves recently cut out the driveline in a Ford Explorer to get at the converter.
“They’re ballsy,” Brace said. Yvonne noted they have caught others sleeping in their “scrap” vehicles and leaving behind drug paraphernalia.
Reciprocating saw - thieves likely used a tool similar to this to cut catalytic converters out of vehicles in our region.
While businesses, such as The Dalles Auto Store, use cameras to catch people red-handed, that does not always work when thieves are working under the cover of darkness.
Walton said even their car carrier trailer had its catalytic converter stolen while it was parked on Pamona Street.
Adam’s Auto on west Sixth Street had three catalytic converters cut out of vehicles earlier this spring. Owners Adam and Rachel Knopf owned all three. So the theft came right out of their pockets.
Another similar theft in the same area occurred within the last two weeks.
And it ends up costing everybody more through higher prices, said Tim Urness. What’s worse, “It makes you feel violated,” he said.
