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Justice Department announces takedown of catalytic converter theft ring

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Re: Justice Department announces takedown of catalytic converter theft ring

#191

Post by dylan604 »

humanistbot wrote: post #61
Test0129 wrote: post #4

This is happening more and more frequently in my locale. Several of my friends and many of my neighbors have had their catalytic converters stolen. It's good to see something is done. Let's hope this steamrolls into a nationwide manhunt for these criminals. They should also consider targeting and auditing shops that buy used car parts. Making it extremely difficult to fence these things will be practical and useful b…

> They should also consider targeting and auditing shops that buy used car parts. Making it extremely difficult to fence these things will be practical and useful because they aren't sold and reused as is California just passed a law to this end, which is pretty straightforward and effectively turns the grey market into a black market. A black market will still exist, but it will be a lot harder for legitimate junkya…

They could always implement a 3 day waiting period and require background checks. That's worked so well in other markets /s

Re: Justice Department announces takedown of catalytic converter theft ring

#192

Post by Scoundreller »

jakogut wrote: post #62
reustle wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People would grind off the serial numbers and sell them on the secondary market, or for the metals. With motorcycles, for example, motors and frames have vin numbers stamped to help prevent this, but you’ll sometimes see cheap parts for sale with the vin cleaned off.

In case anyone thinks this is cost prohibitive or the tooling is rare, a $100 battery powered grinder you can buy from Home Depot will do this in five seconds. If you have a little less money and a little more time, a $5 flat file will do the same thing in a few minutes.

Depends. The number stamping process does change the metal’s underlying metallurgy throughout the the metal where it was stamped. So unless you drill out the number through the entire metal (which is viable if you’re going to extract the minerals), there’s a possibility of reconstructing the serial number with some level of probability.

Happens with guns.

But that’s why you criminalize the trade of unmarked parts. Actually makes the prosecutor’s job easy that way rather than proving the part was actually stolen and not your retirement cat investment.

Re: Justice Department announces takedown of catalytic converter theft ring

#194

Post by tptacek »

catiopatio wrote: post #160
rosywoozlechan wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> When did we become so comfortable with the government mandating presentation of papers and tracking of private transactions? Have you ever run a business? You have to track a lot already. For the IRS, for your business license, for auditing, for compliance depending on what goods and services you sell. You know like firearms, tobacco, alcohol, pharmaceuticals are big ones, but also animals, chemicals, certain kinds…

It’s gotten considerably worse over the past 20 years; we’re asked to present ID and tracked in government databases when purchasing allergy medicine .

That's because the allergy medicine might as well just be methamphetamine. That's really more or less what it is, modulo a reduction step. Nobody cares about your allergies, and if you go to buy Sudafed, they're just going to sell it to you. The only thing that will trip you up is if you go from store to store collecting lots of it.

Re: Justice Department announces takedown of catalytic converter theft ring

#195

Post by judge2020 »

somerandomqaguy wrote: post #182
kazinator wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's literally "going out of style". Gotta get all the cat converters you can before all the cars are electric!

I'd expect the charging cables to be the easy target then. EV owners, please correct me if I'm wrong but I can't imagine that the charging port would be able resist a cordless drill for more then 4 or 5 seconds. And from what I've seen of the CCS connectors, Home Depot probably carries big drill bits long enough drill into into and completely destroy the locking mechanism. Drill in, destroy the the charging port on t…

This is already a thing in terms of Tesla superchargers being sawed off to be sold for scrap. Copper is pretty valuable.

https://electrek.co/2022/02/07/tesla-supercharger-cables-sto...

Re: Justice Department announces takedown of catalytic converter theft ring

#196

Post by olliej »

rydifyrhffh wrote: post #54
User23 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It used to be that back when local cops cared about property crime this was standard operating procedure. When I was a kid if you etched a serial number into your bike frame and parts and registered it with the local PD you were practically assured you’d get your bike back when it inevitably showed up at a pawn shop or similar.

I'm curious where you live that they don't still care tbh. In my experience police do what they're allowed that will be effective. But if you have a DA who refuses to prosecute people or you pass local laws that make doing their job in a manner that gets results impossible then they tend not to waste their time.

State your sources if you’re taking the position that police solve crime.

If you’re referring to that SF DA that was refusing to prosecute people that was a case where their public platform was to stop over criminalizing but it turned out that their parents were terrorists and they just wanted them out of jail.

Re: Justice Department announces takedown of catalytic converter theft ring

#197

Post by dylan604 »

MBCook wrote: post #146
dimitrios1 wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are really discounting the ingenuity of criminals. If they can steal 4 tires with wheel locks off your car, they can steal your undercarriage battery.

It’s THOUSANDS of pounds. It’s not a trivial operation. It may happen, but it will never be anywhere near as common as cat theft. One is safe, trivial, fast, and pays a lot. The other is extremely difficult, possibly lethal, and can’t easily be melted down for profit like a cat.

As connected as modern EV cars are, stealing one would seem like a dumb decision since they'll know exactly where the car is. I know chop shops are quick, but I still wouldn't want to knowingly bring something with tracking devices into my criminal lair.

Re: Justice Department announces takedown of catalytic converter theft ring

#198

Post by spullara »

TEP_Kim_Il_Sung wrote: post #122
spullara wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For it to be murder it has to be unlawful.

Running a stoplight and making an illegal left turn into a kid running across the street, is unlwaful. Still counts as killing (legal term: manslaughter), not murder.

True, but that isn't relevant. I am saying it is a necessary but not sufficient condition for it to be murder. By definition, it must be unlawful, but it also must be premeditated.

Re: Justice Department announces takedown of catalytic converter theft ring

#199

Post by olliej »

astrange wrote: post #139
Test0129 wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where I live they don't even send police for non-injury accidents anymore. Even if there's a hit and run no police get sent. Property crimes don't matter anymore. When my friends got their catalytic converters stolen the police never even bothered to show up. Taking statements may not get their cats back, but it goes towards building up a large enough case to justify a unit to handle it. You are correct though. Our D…

SF recalled their supposedly "not hard on crime" DA, mostly because he offended the local Asian voters, but the new supposedly "hard on crime" DA in practice doesn't seem to be having much effect. Similarly Chesa didn't oversee Oakland or any other nearby areas but I've still seen people who live there blame things on him. People generally have no idea how much crime there is. If you asked most people which of NYC an…

No they recalled him because he was refusing to prosecute anyone for anything because he was mad that his terrorist parents were in jail for being terrorists.

There is a wide gap between liberal “people shouldn’t go to jail because they were on drugs while poor” and “no one should be prosecuted for anything”

Re: Justice Department announces takedown of catalytic converter theft ring

#200

Post by c0nsumer »

doodlebugging wrote: post #107

How would one go about legally selling a catalytic converter? I removed the exhaust from one of my vehicles about 15 years ago when I replaced the worn out engine and have had the old catalytic converter sitting around in my shop ever since. The catalytic converter came from a 1992 model vehicle. The whole exhaust was replaced with a custom stainless steel exhaust front to back with a 50-state compliant catalytic con…

I looked into this a year ago when I bought a house and the previous owner had left two catalytic converters in the garage from old project cars.

The conclusion I came to was that if I didn't look shady, the cats still had their mounting flanges on them (not sawed off), and no problem giving the recycling yard my contact info, I'd have no problems.

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