Catalytic converter thefts around Milledgeville not slowing down

Image captured by "Seth Sawyer" on Flickr

A woman on West Greene Street cranked up her Honda CRV over the weekend and immediately knew that something wasn’t right, and she quickly began wondering why her vehicle “sounded like a loud motorcycle,” according to an incident report.

She drove to the repair shop, and the mechanic told her that the catalytic converter on her vehicle had been removed.

Stories like these are becoming increasingly common around Milledgeville, and not in recent memory have their been so many catalytic converter thefts around here in such a short period of time.

Four more incidents have been reported in the last 10 days, including a pair of church vans in Harrisburg.

Being hit hardest, however, are repair shops. At least five local auto repair shops have reported catalytic converter thefts so far this calendar year, most notably Dean's Garage on South Wayne Street below Georgia Military College, which reported a whopping 18 in one night last month.

Perhaps even more brazen, the catalytic converter was cut off from the daycare bus at Miller Plaza Learning Center on North Wayne Street recently. As is often the case, the vehicle's owner didn't realize the theft until he cranked up the bus and heard a really loud and abnormal sound coming from the undercarriage.

In terms of the thefts last month
at Dean's Garage, "someone cut a hole in the fence at the back side of the building" and "dug a hole" before gaining access to the vehicles on the property.

Also reporting catalytic converter thefts so far this year have been Pittman's Automotive on West Hancock Street, Capitol Transmission on South Jefferson, Certified Transmission on South Wayne, as well as Norris Wheel & Brake on East Hancock.

CBS 46 in Atlanta recently ran a story about similar thefts in Atlanta...

Although catalytic converters are a relatively obscure part of a vehicle, they are not cheap, thanks to the amount of "precious metals" that they're built with. A more common catalytic converter can be sold for around $100 or $200 at a scrap yard, while some less common and more in-demand ones can fetch more than a thousand dollars.

Anyone with any information on the recent thefts is asked to call the Milledgeville Police Department at 414-4000 or the anonymous tip line at 414-4413.