LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The theft of catalytic converters, the tub-like emissions cleaning attachment on a car's exhaust, has skyrocketed in the Las Vegas valley.
Finding someone who doesn't know a victim like Pablo Castro could be hard.
"The catalytic converter got stolen from two friends of mine," Castro said. "They were just angry, furious because I think they had to paw like $3,000 to replace the catalytic converters."
Castro lives in North Las Vegas, where City Council considered an ordinance that would make it illegal to possess a converter without documents like the company that removed it, the VIN number of the car it came from, the title and registration of the donor car, and more.
The proposed ordinance, pushed by NLVPD Chief Jacqueline Gravatt, was given the thumbs up by Castro as it would give police a tool to identify and punish thieves.
"What are you doing with that? Where did you buy it? So, I hope this goes through," Castro said. "Really, there is chaos with what is happening."
Victor Botnari, the owner of Universal Motorcars, said he's repairing one swiped converter at least every two weeks at his shop alone.
"It's still a big problem," Botnari said.
He said something needs to be done to slow the theft rate, not just because of cost but because of the tightening supply of replacement parts.
"Eventually, they're hard to get now," Botnari said. "They're back order and special order, which takes a long time, and it's inconvenient for the customer."
If passed, the new law would provide exceptions for people or businesses with junkyard licenses and instead focus on individual burglars without explaining why they've got one or more commonly stolen car parts in their possession.
"Those people who are stealing these catalytic converters, they will think about it," Castro said. "They will think twice like, oh, wait a minute."
The ordinance was read for the first time at Wednesday's council meeting.
It's scheduled for final consideration at the council meeting on December 21.
