To catch a thief.

On April 16th my neighbor had her catalytic converter stolen out of her SUV. (I had heard the loud roar when it started up, and this told me why.) I told another friend who has 2 SUVs (and it’s just her and her husband. Don’t ask.), and she said she had read in a Long Beach paper that it’s because of platinum inside the converter.

My neighbor didn’t know what to do. She has one car parked inside our complex, but has to park the SUV on the street. If she got a new cc, then that one, too, would be stolen. She compared prices, and decided the one that is bolted in cost too much, so she would just have her boyfriend put in the cheaper one, but only when she needed to drive the car. This seems like an extremely temporary solution to me, but people who drive SUVS may not have the brightest bulbs in their dash…

Be a crime-solver! Do you know what kind of car this is?

The LA Times was on top of this latest popular crime back in January.

The prize is a catalytic converter, a device used to reduce emissions. Platinum is more valuable than gold, and the contents of a typical converter are worth $40 to $50 to scrap-metal dealers.

I’ve always wanted platinum jewelry, but now I’m not so sure. I guess I should ask for vintage platinum jewelry, just to make sure that it doesn’t come from the lowest of the low, thieves, who would rather steal, and strand motorists (which is everyone in LA), rather than get a [blank] job.

I love how laist points out that the Times then gives explicit instructions on how to do it:

Some thieves use saws, but the preferred weapon in Southern California is a ratchet with a 14-millimeter socket. The thief crawls under the car and unfastens the bolts holding the converter, a process that accomplished crooks can complete in 90 seconds.

That is as unethical as printing instructions on how to make a bomb. Also, overly dramatic. Way to make criminals sound proficient and professional, Times. And my neighbor said when her boyfriend tried to do put the temporary converter in, it took like 15 minutes. The article continues:

“We’ve had them all over the place; we’ve had them in broad daylight in a Vons parking lot,” said Det. Jason Knickerbocker of the Manhattan Beach Police Department. “Most of them are at night. A lot of times, we never find the victim.”

I have no idea what this detective is trying to say. Victims are more important than perpetrators in Manhattan Beach, I guess.

I’m always on high alert anyway!, but after my neighbor put up a notice about this theft, that next week was our first big heat wave of the season. I had my windows wide open one night, and I was almost asleep when I heard this ratchety wrench type sound in the street. Like someone was fixing a tire or something. It was about 4 AM, however. I froze for a couple of minutes and then leaped out of bed, suddenly remembering that not everyone does the right thing in the early morning, like fixing coffee, getting ready for the car pool and generally contributing to the world.

No street lamp, and I could barely see a car double-parked on our almost empty street, with the lights on, next to an SUV. The sounds continued.

I thought about calling the police, but THERE’S a 10 minute wait on hold. I thought about running out there in my jammies. Maybe not. I thought about calling out, but not sure if they could hear me, and didn’t want my neighbors to complain. So I ran to get my lovely digital camera, and then started force-firing the flash over and over. I knew it wouldn’t be able to focus at that distance in pitch black, but my flash might do the trick.

After a couple flash pops, the ratchet sounds stopped and in a minute the car roared away!

Even better, I was using the camera as a flash beacon, but I guess my little guy was able to faintly focus in one of the snaps! You can see the last 2 numbers are clearly 29, and I think the one before that is also a 9. But can any of you identify the kind of car it is from the backlight?

I emailed our small Neighborhood Watch list (email me if you want to be on it!) and our LAPD community liaison, Officer Gina Chovan. I sent her details and this photo. When two stripped cars were dumped on our street last fall, and my windshield was bashed for no reason at all, she had told me that there are only 6 officers on duty at any one time for the entire Northeast area. (There now, don’t you feel safer?) But what about the detectives there? No one ever got back to me!

So here I am, trying to solve the crime for them. I need help; it’s obvious I am co-dependent with the City of Los Angeles.