Middletown police find 14 catalytic converters during traffic stop amid theft uptick
Middletown police are working with other area agencies after more than a dozen catalytic converters were found during a traffic stop earlier this month.
On Jan. 14, the township police officers pulled over a vehicle for speeding along Route 1. After pulling the car over, they found 14 catalytic converters, as well as devices used to remove them from other vehicles.
Catalytic converters have been a major target for thieves over the past year because of the rising prices of the metals in the devices, which are located underneath the vehicles.
Bucks County has not been immune to these thefts as several municipal police departments have reported thefts of the converters throughout 2021.
Middletown Detective Lt. Steve Forman said officials from various different departments are going to be visiting Middletown to see if the converters are related to the thefts in their areas.
“Everybody’s been affected by it," Forman said.
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Officer Mark Leonhauser stopped the car, a rental 2019 Dodge Charger with a Florida registration, about 1:30 a.m. on Jan. 14. The vehicle was going 88 mph in a 55 mph zone, according to a police news release.
The renter of the vehicle was not there, and conflicting stories were given by the four men inside, all of whom were from Camden, New Jersey. One of them was wanted by Bucks County Sheriffs, and another was recently arrested in New Jersey for stealing 15 converters in August, according to police. The other two in the vehicle were released while the investigation continues.
Marijuana was found in the vehicle, and officers searched it. They found the converters in the trunk, as well as three battery-powered DeWalt Sawzalls, which are commonly used to remove the devices from vehicles. Investigators also found extra blades for it, as well as black ski masks.
Police said two of the converters look to be stolen from brand new vehicles.
Forman said investigators believe the converters could have been taken from vehicles over the two weeks before the traffic stop. He said it appears they were using the car for two weeks, between Dec. 31 and Jan. 14.
The detective lieutenant said he does not expect the thefts to be from Middletown because there weren't any that would line up with recent thefts in the township. He said there were three in Middletown so far this year.
In 2021, there were 83 thefts of catalytic converters in Middletown.
Many of them were taken during the overnight hours.
Forman said he also suspects the devices were taken shortly before they were discovered, possibly a day or two before.
“They want to get rid of them; they want to get the cash," he said.
The National Insurance Crime Bureau reported in March that there was an increase in the thefts nationwide, since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The converters are devices that resemble a small muffler on the exhaust system, according to a release from the organization. The emission control devices cut down the release of pollutants
The costs for the precious metals used in the devices have significantly increased in recent years. Recyclers will pay between $50 and $250 for the converters, according to the release.
The trends in the thefts have been largely the same since last year, according to Forman.
The vehicles targeted, he said, tend to be Japanese or commercial vehicles. He did not know why they seemed to be especially attractive to the thieves
Perpetrators hit vehicles at dealerships, apartment complexes, or commercial business lots. Forman has said the thefts have happened days, and weeks apart, and it is not known if it is the same people committing them all.
Additionally, the people stealing them tend to be doing so in groups, he said.
Forman said another problem is that residents who do have theirs stolen, can't get them replaced fast enough.
No charges have been filed in the investigation, which is ongoing. The names of the four in the vehicle have not yet been released.
Anyone with information on the thefts can contact lead Detective Wayne George at 215-750-3865 or at wgeorge@mtpd.org.
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Bucks County police find 14 catalytic converters amid regional theft uptick
