SAN JOSE, Calif. — Police in California arrested 15 people after recovering more than 1,000 stolen catalytic converters, authorities said Monday.
The investigation by the San Jose Police Department, which ended in mid-November, was a six-month probe that focused on regional catalytic converter thefts in the area, SFGate.com reported.
Dubbed “Operation Cat Scratch Thiever,” police also said that they confiscated $50,000 in cash, four handguns, and an illegal assault rifle, according to KTVU-TV.
In a news release, the San Jose Police Department said the city had experienced a rise in catalytic converter thefts.
“Many of these thefts have become increasingly brazen and suspects are often armed with guns,” the release stated. “Suspects have shot victims and witnesses who have interrupted the thefts and in San Jose, a catalytic converter theft has been linked to at least one homicide.”
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Catalytic converters are exhaust emission control devices found on the underside of vehicles. Thieves target them for the rare metals found within the part.
The 15 suspects, mostly San Jose residents, range in age from 22 to 81, according to the news release. All were arrested on suspicion of crimes encompassing grand theft, receiving stolen property, possessing illegal weapons, and assault with a deadly weapon, police said.
The people arrested were Joe Chen, William Collier, Noe Antonio De La O Ramirez, Robert Frank, David Leaf, Robert Lee, Jorge Omar Flores-Meza, Noah Muchera, Waiyaki Muchera, Casandra Ochoa, Mario Zarate Sanchez, Godofredo Lopez Serrano, Jeffrey Smith, Alton Walker and Lacey Westgate, according to police.
Frank, 52, of San Jose, was charged with possession of about $3 million worth of stolen catalytic converters, stemming from allegations he was acting as a fence through his business Green Metal Recycling in San Jose, The Mercury News reported.
San Jose police released figures indicating that reported catalytic converter thefts in the city rose from 84 in 2019 to 784 in 2020, and then to 1,087 through the end of October 2021, a 1,200% increase in less than two years, the newspaper reported.