Catalytic converter theft in spotlight after fatal shooting of 'General Hospital' actor Johnny Wactor

A nationwide crime trend hitting car owners has received renewed attention amid the unsolved murder of “General Hospital” actor Johnny Wactor, who was shot and killed while that he caught thieves in Los Angeles ripping the catalytic converter out of his Toyota Prius.

Auto parts intended to reduce smog caused by combustion engines have become a prime target for criminals as prices of the precious metals contained in these components – rhodium, platinum and palladium – have soared in recent years.

Rhodium, for example, currently costs $4,750 per troy ounce, the precious metals measure, or about twice the price of gold, according to Trading Economics, a website that tracks economic indicators. The price of platinum is currently $1,046 per troy ounce, while palladium costs $957.

According to the National Automobile Dealers Association, a stolen catalytic converter can fetch between $20 and $350 on the black market.

Former Los Angeles County Sheriff Jim McDonnell told ABC News that money thieves quickly find themselves on the black market for the coin, which outweighs the risk of getting caught because Sanctions have been historically weak and the priority given by law enforcement to such crimes takes on considerable importance. secondary to violent crime.

“There's an incentive there, and if the consequences they can expect don't outweigh the risk they're going to take, they're certainly going to go after this sort of thing,” said McDonnell, now director . from the Safe Communities Institute, a public safety think tank at the University of Southern California.

McDonnell said thieving crews have become as quick as NASCAR pit crews to steal catalytic converters, in some cases using cordless jacks and saws to remove the part.

“You can go in with a Sawzall and hit the exhaust on both sides of the converter and be gone in relatively seconds,” McDonnell said.

Wactor, 37, was fatally shot around 3:25 a.m. PT Saturday when he interrupted three people, wearing masks and dressed in black, who had jacked up their car and were trying to steal his catalytic converter, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

No arrests have been made following this murder.

Wactor's death came about two years after off-duty Harris County, Texas, sheriff's Deputy Darren Almendarez, 51, was shot to death in front of his wife in a similar incident. Almendarez was fatally shot while trying to stop three thieves from stealing his truck's catalytic converter in a grocery store parking lot, according to the Harris County Sheriff's Department. Three suspects in Almendarez's murder have been arrested and charged with capital murder. They have all pleaded not guilty and are awaiting trial.

Several suspected catalytic converter thieves were also killed during clashes with car owners. In April 2023, a suspected thief was stabbed to death in the Los Angeles suburb of South El Monte by a kitchen knife-wielding homeowner who confronted three suspects in his driveway as they attempted to steal the catalytic converter from his vehicle, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff. Department.

Since 2022, catalytic converters have been stolen from 153,000 vehicles nationwide, according to CARFAX, which provides vehicle data to consumers.

Between 2020 and 2022, more than 20,000 vehicles in California had their catalytic converters stolen, the most in the country, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau. Texas followed California with more than 8,000 catalytic converters torn off.

“You also have organized theft rings that do this as well, and they substitute themselves for others and then buy from them as they seize these parts,” McDonnell told ABC News.

He said many states have combatted catalytic converter thefts by creating task forces to investigate these crimes and passing laws that increase penalties for those found guilty.

In 2022, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed the Comprehensive Catalytic Converter Theft Act, requiring new car dealers to provide a catalytic converter serial number engraving kit and creating a database to statewide to track the sale and recycling of catalytic converters at junkyards. In June 2023, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed the Darren Almendarez Act, making catalytic converter theft a felony and increasing penalties for perpetrators who use firearms to steal a device.

At least 39 states have proposed bills to address the problem, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau.

In February 2023, the bipartisan Auto Recycling Theft Prevention Act was introduced in Congress. If passed, it would make it a federal crime to steal, sell or traffic in stolen catalytic converters.

The US Department of Justice has also taken action. In November 2022, the DOJ announced the dismantling of a nationwide catalytic converter theft ring and the arrest of 21 suspects in California, Oklahoma, Wyoming, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Nevada, in North Carolina and Virginia.

“This national network of criminals has claimed victims across the country,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said at the time. “They have made hundreds of millions of dollars through this process, on the backs of thousands of owners innocent cars.”

Steps taken by state and federal authorities to address the problem appear to be working. The National Insurance Crime Bureau told ABC News that catalytic converter thefts fell 57% nationwide in 2023 compared to 2022. However, the numbers are still higher than they were before the start of the pandemic.

McDonnell said victims of catalytic converter theft must pay up to $3,000 to replace a stolen catalytic converter. He said hybrid vehicles, which have two catalytic converters, can cost more to repair if both parts are stolen.

He said cars cannot run without these parts, leaving victims without transportation as they wait days, sometimes weeks, for their vehicles to be repaired.

McDonnell said people could do things to protect their vehicles' catalytic converters, such as installing special cages or clamps around the devices to make them tamper-proof or parking their car in a garage. However, they can be expensive.

“I think there are a number of things that individuals can do to protect their property, but those aren't really achievable by everyone,” McDonnell said. “Not everyone can park in a well-lit area; not everyone can have an indoor garage. All the things we would like to say you can do to make it harder for your belongings to be stolen are not realistic for the members of our community.