FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Catalytic converter thefts have been rising this year, so several Northwest Arkansas law enforcement agencies teamed up with local auto shops to combat the issue.
“Vehicles we are seeing most stolen from are the vehicles parked at churches, parked in parking lots for a long period of time and aren’t moved,” Joe Rhodes said.
Fayetteville Grease Pig locations and Razorback Muffler in Farmington, along with Plaza Tire in Springdale, are etching the last eight digits of the car’s VIN on catalytic converters to let scrap yards know it was stolen.
Grease Pig Manager Joe Rhodes says if you wonder how you’ll know your catalytic converter has been stolen, he says you’ll know as soon as you turn your car on and hear what sounds like a monster car. If you do get yours stolen, it isn’t cheap.
“They’re going to need to go to an exhaust shop and have the catalytic converter replaced. That usually brings in a price of about 600 up to 2,000 dollars for that to be changed out,” he said.
John Young had his catalytic converter etched on Thursday (May 27) because someone tried to cut the catalytic converter from his roommate's car a few weeks ago.
“I think it’s a wonderful opportunity for us to secure our property and possibly, hope it leads to the capture of these hooligans,” he said.
Fayetteville Police say more than 100 people went to one of the four places offering the service today to get their catalytic converts etched. They hope even more people show up tomorrow.
Sergeant Anthony Murphy says the precious metals found in the converters are at a high price right now, and criminals are capitalizing on that.
“They are stealing these catalytic converters and selling them to scrapyards from anywhere from 500 to 1000 dollars per catalytic converter, so it’s a good payday for the criminals, and they know that, so that’s why they are out stealing them,” he said.
If you would like to get your VIN etched in your catalytic converter, you can go to these locations on Friday, May 28, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- Grease Pig - 1499 W Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, Fayetteville
- Grease Pig - 2897 N. College Ave, Fayetteville
- Razorback Muffler - 245 E. Main St, Farmington
- Plaza Tire - 953 E. Henri De Tonti Blvd, Springdale
In the River Valley, there will be a similar event but only for Barling Residents. It will be at Strobel Auto Repair on June 19th from noon to 2 p.m.