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Date: 5/11/2021
WEST SPRINGFIELD – Authorities in West Springfield are among those who continue to deal with a rash of thefts in which vehicles’ catalytic converters have been stolen.
On May 6, the West Springfield Police Department informed the public via its Facebook page that several businesses in the Interstate Drive and Capital Drive business districts had experienced thefts of catalytic converters from their “larger conversion style vans and trucks” on May 4 and 5.
In a separate incident, catalytic converters were also recently stolen from 22 buses stored by the Lower Pioneer Valley Education Collaborative in Agawam, impacting special education transportation for that community as well as West Springfield.
Part of these vehicles’ exhaust systems, catalytic converters are designed to reduce pollutants and contain valuable metals such as platinum, palladium and rhodium.
As of press time, the market exchange rate for platinum was nearly $1,300 per ounce and for palladium, nearly $3,000 per ounce.
The department explained that the size of these vehicles allows for easier access to the undercarriage where the parts are located.
“The randomness of these crimes and the lack of any identifying numbers on the catalytic converters, make investigation difficult for law enforcement,”?the department noted in the post.
The Police Department advised residents and those who operate similar vehicles in the area to take “extra precautions” to prevent further thefts and asked the public to report suspicious vehicles and persons.