Trooper Arrests Two for Theft of Catalytic Converter

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Trooper Arrests Two for Theft of Catalytic Converter

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Trooper Arrests Two for Theft of Catalytic Converter​

Indiana State Police sent this bulletin at 08/27/2021 02:56 PM EDT

Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page.​ INDIANA STATE POLICE BLOOMINGTON DISTRICT 1500 N. Packinghouse Road, #200 Bloomington, IN 47404 www.in.gov/isp FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE​ CONTACT: Sergeant Michael Wood Public Information Officer 812-332-4411 DATE Trooper Arrests Two for Theft of Catalytic Converter​ Yesterday morning, Trooper Jeremy Cox had just left the Indiana State Police Post and had turned north on Woodyard Road from Vernal Pike in Bloomington when he observed suspicious activity by two men in a red Dodge truck parked alongside a black GMC SUV that was off the roadway and had been left abandoned. Trp. Cox observed a cloud of dust coming from the GMC as Nicky D. Wright, 52 years old from Martinsville, was reaching into the fender well area of the vehicle. A second suspect, Richard P. Vanskiver, 63 years old from Martinsville, was sitting in the Dodge truck, that was parked next to the GMC. As Master Trooper Mark Clephane and Senior Trooper Kent Rohlfing arrived to assist, the investigation revealed inconsistencies with the two men's stories, damage consistent with the theft of catalytic converter along with the presence of the tools involved in the alleged theft. Both men were transported to the Monroe County Jail on the following charges, Auto Theft, Level 6 Felony (2 counts) Conversion, Class A Misdemeanor Criminal Mischief, Class A Misdemeanor Arrest photos may be obtained from the Monroe County Jail Lt. Paul Bucher, Commander of the Bloomington District, commended the work of the Troopers as this type of crime has spiked recently, "We continually see this crime occur within our community as the prices of precious metals rise and our Troopers are well trained in detecting the behaviors of suspects that prey on other people’s misfortunes." Lt. Bucher also stated, "We would like to remind the public to be vigilant of their property and report any suspicious activity alongside our roadways." All criminal defendants are to be presumed innocent until, and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. -30- WOOD​

 

[DeadeyeChrista'sdad]

Good eye, trooper Cox. Now, judges and prosecutors, string 'em up.

 

[bwframe]

This wasn't kids. It was old guys from Martinsville.

I'd like to know where they are selling the converters. Last I heard, that was restricted? Maybe I'm mistaken?

 

[KellyinAvon]

Here's a headline: OLD DUDES STEAL CATALYTIC CONVERTER!!! I mean the get-away driver is 63. The guy with the (the name of whatever tool you use to steal catalytic converters here) is 52 (not that 52 is old...)

If journalism wasn't dead this would be in the local Martinsville paper next Tuesday:

Get-away driver and local miscreant Richard Vanskiver yelled from the back of the State Trooper's cruiser, "Old dudes are out stealin catalytic converters because the young folks with their fancy computers are stealin identities and such!! These young whipper-snappers can't even drive a stick-shift!

 

[KellyinAvon]

This wasn't kids. It was old guys from Martinsville.

I'd like to know where they are selling the converters. Last I heard, that was restricted? Maybe I'm mistaken?

You are correct, sir! Recent change to Indiana code on selling catalytic converters as scrap was in the news lately. I guess the pride of Martinsville didn't get the memo.

 

[tmschuller]

Someone hit my work place. Stole the catalytic converter from our E350 bus/van. Last week. I work in Fort Wayne.. 1800.00 later..

 

[littletommy]

I know the local scrapyard has been requiring and making a copy of a photo ID for quite a while if you are scrapping anything but aluminum cans.

If selling converters has been restricted, but it’s still an issue, then I’d have to guess someone who is actually authorized to scrap them is probably the dirty one, buying them under the table from thieves.

 

[Hoosierdood]

One of our work trucks had the Cat stolen last month. Cost us over $1000 to fix it. String ‘em up.

 

[phylodog]

Poor old dudes will probably have to suffer through a week of unsupervised probation.

When dealing with the expensive metals inside of catalytic converters you can bet plenty of the buyers are willing to “fudge” a little here and there to keep the money flowing.

 

[maxwelhse]

You are correct, sir! Recent change to Indiana code on selling catalytic converters as scrap was in the news lately. I guess the pride of Martinsville didn't get the memo.

Even before that, the auto recycling places around me wouldn't touch one without a title to the vehicle it came from. The thing that sucked about that is they wanted to KEEP the title to the vehicle, so if you just had cat that had rusted out or plugged up, you couldn't recycle it. Straight into the trash can for all of those expensive and toxic metals to become ground water at the landfill... They're like that with any major vehicle component too.

I was told by others on INGO that there are apparently clandestine scrap yards that will do just about anything, but I'd never encountered one.

 

[cosermann]

This happened to a friend of mine in Monroe county. In his case they figured a battery powered panel saw was used to chop it off quick.

 

[Leo]

This wasn't kids. It was old guys from Martinsville.

I'd like to know where they are selling the converters. Last I heard, that was restricted? Maybe I'm mistaken?

About once a month I have seen an ad on facebook market place that says a guy is coming through town to buy converters on a certain day and is paying "top money cash". I also see ads where people have a stack of them, maybe a dozen, wanting to sell. That sure seems shady to me.

 

[BiscuitsandGravy]

This happened to a friend of mine in Monroe county. In his case they figured a battery powered panel saw was used to chop it off quick.

No 'sawzalls' or chain cutters anymore?

 

[BiscuitsandGravy]

About once a month I have seen an ad on facebook market place that says a guy is coming through town to buy converters on a certain day and is paying "top money cash". I also see ads where people have a stack of them, maybe a dozen, wanting to sell. That sure seems shady to me.

Thats why I try to stay off the facebook.

 

[Leo]

There is a guy right now that calls himself Mario Gomez with marketplace ads saying he is in Royal Center, Indiana and also an ad that says he is in Rossville, Indiana, with pictures of multiple converters he wants to sell. Another Mario ad in Delpi. There is Some are those big Diesel systems with all the stainless guards and everything still intact. Maybe the guy is ok, but it looks fishy.

 

[Leadeye]

I wonder if they sell them to places in mexico, anything goes with yonke down there.

 

[maxwelhse]

There is a guy right now that calls himself Mario Gomez with marketplace ads saying he is in Royal Center, Indiana and also an ad that says he is in Rossville, Indiana, with pictures of multiple converters he wants to sell. Another Mario ad in Delpi. There is Some are those big Diesel systems with all the stainless guards and everything still intact. Maybe the guy is ok, but it looks fishy.

Some of the diesel stuff may actually be legit salvage. Guys pay big money to get rid of that crap so I imagine there's a fair bit of it laying around.

Now... Super Mario's Recycling on Facebook is probably not where I would expect to do reputable business if I had some though.

No 'sawzalls' or chain cutters anymore?

My 20 year old garbage quality Ryobi 18v Sawsall will chop a cat off in about 45 seconds (for legitimate reasons). The panel saws I'm thinking of wouldn't be suitable for the job, so I'm thinking there may be a terminology mix-up.

Panel saw I'm aware of:

 

[Libertarian01]

I hope to hell they get near the max for this and some sort of example is set.

Doug

 

[tmschuller]

I hope to hell they get near the max for this and some sort of example is set.

Doug

Me too in our case really disrupted the lives of 10-15 senior citizens that depend on that bus for dr appointments that had been scheduled or back logged for months. But the people that steal stuff like that would not have the morals or compassion to care about anyone or anything except making a quick $$$

 

[JettaKnight]

Someone hit my work place. Stole the catalytic converter from our E350 bus/van. Last week. I work in Fort Wayne.. 1800.00 later..

Yeah, they stole them from our church buses.


No shame at all.