LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — It is a trend that took over Las Vegas a few years ago.
Catalytic converter thefts were happening almost daily. The crime was costing people and even some businesses thousands of dollars.
“I had a lady who came to me one time and said ‘hey, do you buy catalytic converters?’ I said, 'nope. I don't buy catalytic converters. I only sell them when I have some.' And she was a police officer, undercover,” said Sammy Pena, who has worked as an auto mechanic for 35 years.
Pena owns Sammy’s Auto in north Las Vegas. At this shop, he fixes cars up and also buys them. More than anything, Pena says he understands how cars work.
When catalytic converters started getting stolen at an alarming rate in Las Vegas back in 2020, he says he knew exactly why.
“They can make big bucks out of it,” Pena said.
"They" are thieves, who in a matter of minutes are able to steal a catalytic converter from any car. It is a quick and calculated crime that could turn a big profit.
“They go for anywhere between $350 to $2,000, sometimes even more,” Pena said.
The metals found in catalytic converters, such as platinum and rhodium, are worth a lot of money. Up until last year, stealing them and selling them in Nevada was not a crime.
“I asked the Metro police, ‘why can’t you arrest these people?' and they said ‘we don’t have a charge,’” said Nevada state Senator Rochelle Nguyen, who represents District 3.
Nguyen introduced Senate Bill 243, which aims to stop people and businesses from buying used catalytic converters from anyone other than a licensed business or a person with documentation showing they own it.
“It was happening at car lots, it was happening at auto dealerships, it was happening everywhere,” Nguyen said.
S.B. 243 was signed into law last summer by Gov. Joe Lombardo and went into effect in October of 2023.
Now, thieves who are caught with the valuable pieces could face felony charges and even more severe penalties depending on how many they possess.
“We have seen some progress. We have seen some arrests. We have seen some prosecutions when it comes to catalytic converter theft, which is what should be happening,” Nguyen said.
Channel 13 reached out to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department to obtain detailed data on catalytic converter crimes since S.B. 243 went into effect. A spokesperson for the department responded by saying:
“Unfortunately, we stopped tracking this information at the end of 2022 due to the tracking being time consuming. You can put a research request in.”
We are in the process of filing a request to obtain the data. However, we were able to obtain catalytic converter theft data that was documented prior to 2023.
Here’s what we found:
- Reported catalytic converter thefts in 2022: 2,625
- Reported catalytic converter thefts in 2021: 1,894
- Reported catalytic converter thefts in 2020: 494
- Reported catalytic converter thefts in 2019: 30
- Reported catalytic converter thefts in 2018: 5
According to Metro police, the crime increased more than 1,200% from 2019 to 2022.
