Catalytic Converters Stolen
From Vehicles at Tech Center

Over the last year, state police from the northern part of the state have regularly reported thefts of catalytic converters, oftimes with thieves descending on an auto dealer’s lot and removing several of the emission-control devices in one night.

This week, the problem turned up in Randolph.

According to police, thieves successfully made off with four of the devices, after removing them from cars parked at the Randolph Technical Career Center, probably sometime over the weekend.

The thefts were reported to RPD at 12:45 p.m. on Monday, April 28.

Two days earlier, on April 26, the owners of two trucks parked on a Hull Street property discovered that would-be thieves had attempted without success to remove the larger converters from their vehicles.

At about 7:40 a.m., a Mel Lyford reported to Randolph police that he found a window of his dump truck, parked at his storage business on Hull Street, had been smashed. A pill bottle with a few pills had been taken from inside the truck. Later, he noticed that something had been wrapped around the rig’s catalytic converter, and signs that someone had tried to pull the converter off, possibly by using a cable hooked to another vehicle.

About two hours later, RPD heard from Perry Armstrong, who reported the attempted theft of catalytic converter from a large truck his business owns. This vehicle was also parked off Hull Street, not far from the other truck.

In this case, there were signs that the thief or thieves tried to cut through the pipes on either end of the converter. Apparently the stainless steel fitting pipes proved too much for the thief’s saw.

Armstrong didn’t realize there was a problem until he started the truck and heard the unexpectedly loud exhaust from the damaged pipes. Police said the damage likely occurred last Thursday or Friday night.

Catalytic converters—which are sawed off or unbolted from underneath vehicles—can be sold for $100-$200, according to Randolph Police Chief Jim Krakowiecki. The emission-scrubbing parts of the devices contain rare metals, such as platinum, rhodium, and palla