Back in March of this year, a suspected catalytic converter thief was found crushed to death underneath a vehicle on Beta Avenue in Burnaby.
The vehicle had been jacked up and then it fell on the thief.
Phil has no sympathy for the dead thief.
The Burnaby resident told the NOW that his sympathy ended after he confronted a catalytic converter thief earlier this year in his own driveway.
“I heard this noise in the middle of the night and went out to see what it was,” said Phil (the NOW is protecting his identity). “Then I see these legs sticking out from under my wife’s vehicle. I yelled that I had called the police and this guy gets up looking all panicked. Then he swung at me with a tool and ran off. We now make sure our vehicles are kept in the locked garage. I’m fed up with this stuff.”
Catalytic converter thefts are on the rise, say police agencies in Metro Vancouver, due to the precious metals found in them.
In Burnaby, there have been 310 catalytic converter thefts so far in 2021, according to a report from the RCMP to the city’s public safety committee this week.
Catalytic converter thefts across the Lower Mainland reached 2,154 in 2020.
The theft of the exhaust emission devices has led to hundreds of deductible insurance claims generated from vehicle owners, with the Insurance Corporation of B.C. reporting losses close to $2 million last year.
The persistent crime has triggered city police agencies and the RCMP to call on the B.C. government to amend the Metal Dealers and Recyclers Act to put the onus on scrap dealers to collect identification from sellers.
Currently, there is no requirement for a scrap dealer — where converters are typically sold for up to $200 each for the precious metals inside them — to report a transaction.
“This makes Vancouver Police Department investigations more challenging because suspected offenders leave the city of Vancouver with the stolen converter,” said a report attached to a police board resolution forwarded last month to the B.C. Association of Police Boards.
“Identification is not required to sell catalytic converters, which complicates suspect identification.”
Police say a converter, which converts pollutants into less harmful emissions before they leave a vehicle’s exhaust system, can be stolen in seconds with a blow torch or cutting tool.
Thieves often target vehicles higher up from the ground such as minivans and SUVs to allow easier access to the underside of a vehicle.
In the Vancouver thefts this year, Hondas accounted for 37 per cent of the targeted vehicles followed by Fords (26 per cent) and Toyotas (seven per cent), according to a VPD news release.
ICBC statistics for the Lower Mainland show claim costs of $1.9 million for 2020, with the average claim at $2,117.
The $1.9 million represents 927 claims submitted to ICBC that have costs associated. There may be additional thefts for those without ICBC comprehensive insurance, according to an email from the corporation, which confirmed that not all victims report a theft to the agency or police.
Claims costs also exclude the cost of a person's deductible.
- With additional reporting by Mike Howell, Glacier Media
