ST. LOUIS — St. Louis detectives are looking for help to identify an SUV that was used in a suspected theft of a catalytic converter in south city early Monday morning.
A catalytic converter was stolen from a small white bus that was parked at a Dobbs on the 700 block of South Broadway around 4 a.m., according to St. Louis police.
In surveillance pictures provided by police, a man in a Dodge Ram could be seen parked next to the bus. The man appears to get out, walk toward the bus and then drive away.
Detectives in the department's north and south patrol divisions are working together to investigate a "severe spike" in catalytic converter thefts across the city. Police said Honda and Toyota models are the most targeted due to the demand for resale.
Anyone with information about this theft of others is asked to contact CrimeStoppers at 866-371-TIPS or a 4th District Detective at 314-444-2500.
5 On Your Side's I-Team has reported that catalytic converter thefts have quintupled this year. According to data St. Louis police provided in late November, there have been 332 reports of stolen catalytic converters so far in 2020, a 560% increase over the 50 thefts reported in 2019 and 53 reported in 2018.
The thefts may be driven by the high price of palladium, a metal found in many of the converters.
