Junk Yard Proprietor"I bought the car."
What you're about to see is not illegal, but only because this junk yard proprietor who wants to stay anonymous owns the car. We asked him to demonstrate a brazen new trend in auto theft, and your car could be next.
Twelve SUVS were targeted by crooks in one night at this New Bedford car dealership. The dealer only knew what happened when he turned the ignition and it sounded like this.
Turns out the catalytic converters underneath the SUVs had been sawed off.
Bob Bancroft, Dealership Owner"The thieves rolled underneath this vehicle, cut it off, and then without having to stand up just went underneath this one, and then down and underneath that one."
The catalytic converter keeps toxic emissions out of the air and the part contains platinum, a precious metal. Crooks know they can sell it to a scrap metal yard for big bucks because the price of platinum is up 75% in the last six months! Police know that makes this part a hot item.
Detective Sergeant John Murphy, Barnstable Police"We believe that the thieves are getting about $150 to $200 a piece for the catalytic converters."
But it costs much more to replace them. Debra Raymond of Dartmouth uses her two vans to drive people to senior center programs, until one night the thieves hit. It cost her insurance company $7000.
Debra Raymond, Dartmouth Council on Aging"Bottom line, yeah, It was a major problem."
And the rip-off job can be lightning fast. Here's where one catalytic converter is on our junk car, it's propped up so we can see it. The owner then turns on his saw and it only takes one cut, two cuts, and it's off.
Hank Phillippi Ryan, Investigative Reporter"That took you like two minutes."
Junk Yard Proprietor"I didn't time myself, but if you say so, yes ma'am."
Cars are most vulnerable when the bad guys know you won't be coming back soon; case in point commuter parking lots. Just since June police report at least 40 cars hit in Plymouth, Bourne, and Barnstable.
Detective Sergeant John Murphy, Barnstable Police"The vehicles they seem to be targeting are the SUVs or trucks, the vehicles that have a high wheel base off the ground."
Police also report dozens of thefts from mall parking lots, car dealerships, and auto body shops. Police say they're now working with scrap metal yards, hoping to nail these thieves, when they try to make a sale.
Detective Sergeant John Murphy, Barnstable Police"If someone comes into a junk dealer and he has seven brand new catalytic converters, it doesn't really take a detective to say that something doesn't look right here."
Hank Phillippi Ryan, Investigative Reporter"How to protect your car? Fact is there's not much you can do. Police do tell us they're stepping up patrols in commuter lots and they warn everyone to watch for suspicious activity. In the newsroom, I'm Hank Philippi Ryan."
(Copyright (c) 2008 Sunbeam Television Corp. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)