Updated: 06/01/2012 2:38 PM
Created: 05/31/2012 5:04 PM KSTC45.com | Print Story
By: Beth McDonough

Thieves Target Catalytic Converters in Parts of Metro

You can find them under every car.  And they're worth big bucks.  That's why more and more thieves are going after catalytic converters. 

Police in 10 cities in the north and west metro tell us they're hot commodities. Catalytic converters are connected to your vehicles exhaust system and remove pollutants. Converters are about the size of a football and contain enough metal like platinum, palladium and rhodium to make stealing them, worth the risk to some. 

Scrap dealers tell us these are precious metals worth extreme amounts of money. Platinum is going for $1,400 an ounce. 

Brooklyn Park police tell us thieves target S-U-V's and trucks because the vehicles have a high clearance and are easier for suspects to enter underneath. 

The park-n-rides, shopping centers, apartment complexes and business parking lots where vehicles are left unattended outside for long periods of time are hot spots. 

Crooks try to cash-in on the converters at area scrap yards for $100 a pop, sometimes more.