Braintree police arrest 3 in theft of catalytic converters that caused $12,000 in damage
BRAINTREE − Local police arrested three Rhode Island men they say caused $12,000 worth of damage by stealing catalytic converters from Braintree trucks.
The police department received an alarm call from a business on Wood Road at about 11 p.m. the day after Halloween. The alarm company said several people could be seen on camera in the business's fenced-in yard, which police surrounded. Officers entered the yard by jumping the fence.
The men ran from police. As officers were running after them, they noticed six catalytic converters in a pile next to the fence, the department said.
The suspects ran into a wooded area nearby and State Police and Quincy police were called to help with a search. Three men were found hiding in thick brush. Two were taken into custody immediately but a third tried again to run. He was arrested after what police described as "a brief struggle."
Damage to the trucks was estimated to be more than $12,000. The suspects were charged with trespassing, larceny over $1,200, three counts of malicious damage to a motor vehicle and possession of a burglary tool.
"Recently, Braintree and many other communities across the commonwealth have been plagued by catalytic converter thefts," the Braintree Police Department said in a statement. "Further investigation is ongoing, and it appears that these three alleged thieves may be connected to other catalytic converter thefts in Massachusetts and Rhode Island."
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All officers and dispatchers involved have been nominated for the Police Award Certificate.
A catalytic converter converts toxic gases and pollutants from an internal combustion engine into less-toxic pollutants. They were first introduced in the 1970s in response to the Federal Clean Air Act.
Thieves go after catalytic converters because metals inside the parts on certain vehicles can be sold. As of March, the National Insurance Crime Bureau estimated that rhodium, palladium and platinum were valued at $20,000, $2,938 and $1,128 per ounce, respectively.
The most common buyers are scrapyards, which will pay between $50 and $250 for a catalytic converter, the bureau says.
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This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Police arrest 3 men for stealing six catalytic converters in Braintree
