Rockford business owner speaks out about catalytic converter theft

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WIFR) -Carpetland USA President Kevin Rose says Wednesday night someone came on his property and swiped two catalytic converters off of his company trucks.

“We came in and started up our two trucks that were out front, and both were very loud,” said Rose. “One of my guys got underneath and realized that someone had come during the night and clean cut both catalytic converters right off.”

Carpetland isn’t alone. Rose says other businesses and vehicle owners in the community report similar crimes.

“We delivered those down to our mechanic who told me that he has heard of about 70 catalytic converters being stolen around the Rockford area,” said Rose.

Catalytic converters are usually made of platinum, with some palladium and rhodium, all extreme rare metals. Winnebago County Sheriff Gary Caruana says thieves sell the converters for quick cash.

“You can sell it to scrap yards, so that kind of makes it more of an enticing type of thing to sell it off as a scrap and get that money,” said Caruana.

Rose says the repairs to his vehicles aren’t cheap. He plans to put more security cameras around the building to thwart future crime.

“It’s about anywhere from $1,300 to $1,800 for a new catalytic converter to be installed,” Rose said. “It’s not only that, but it’s the downtime and inconvenience, so hopefully the police can catch these guys and put them away.”

Caruana says some catalytic converters have anti-theft devices or can have your vehicles vin number etched into the part making it easier to track down if stolen.

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