Theft ring bust: 42,000 catalytic converters

By Taxpayers Association of Oregon
OregonWatchdog.com

Beaverton police helped nab a man charged with a crime ring that allegedly has stolen 42,000 catalytic converters since January 2021.

His Lake Oswego house yielded 3,000 converters alone.

The total cost of 42,000 converters over the time period could have netted $22 million in resales to other states.

Portland has seen a rapid increase in converter theft since the City of Portland defunded their police by $12 million and 100 positions.

We previously reported, “The theft of catalytic converters, which contain precious metals inside to clean gas emissions, has soared 270 percent in Portland during the past five years, with 4,908 thefts reported last year, according to the Portland Police Bureau.  Portland isn’t alone. Oregon ranks sixth in the nation for thefts of catalytic converters, and the nation has seen a huge increase in crime during the past two years. Eugene has seen a spike in catalytic converter thefts.In 2019, State Farm, the largest auto insurer in Oregon and the nation, paid $32,600 for 24 catalytic converters in processing theft claims, according to the Oregonian/OregonLive. In 2021, the insurer paid $1.9 million for 1,311 claims in Oregon. And nationally, State Farm saw claims for catalytic converter thefts jump from $4.6 million to $62.6 million during the same two years.”

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