On a Thursday afternoon in Surrey, a woman who had already lived through a similar fright looked out her window and saw a theft unfold: someone was cutting a catalytic converter from a vehicle on a quiet residential block. It is a small, nearly ordinary crime, yet it sits inside a larger pattern that police and insurers both trace to the worth of the precious metals hidden in these parts. Two suspects remain at large, and the year's rising tally suggests the story is less about one street than about what value, once discovered, tends to draw toward itself.
Surrey Woman Catches Catalytic Converter Thief in the Act as Thefts Climb Across B.C.
It was terrifying.
On a Thursday afternoon in Surrey, a woman who had already lived through a similar fright looked out her window and saw a theft unfold: someone was cutting a catalytic converter from a vehicle on a quiet residential block. It is a small, nearly ordinary crime, yet it sits inside a larger pattern that police and insurers both trace to the worth of the precious metals hidden in these parts. Two suspects remain at large, and the year's rising tally suggests the story is less about one street than about what value, once discovered, tends to draw toward itself.
On Thursday afternoon, a Surrey woman looked out and caught a thief in the act of taking a catalytic converter. The theft took place in the 10800 block of 142 Street, and police were called shortly after 5 p.m. Two suspects are still being sought. Speaking to the Surrey Now-Leader, the woman said the same thing had happened to her the day before, and she described the experience as terrifying. Police have not said whether anyone was hurt, and nothing in the report suggests that anyone was.
Surrey RCMP Cpl. Vanessa Munn placed the case in a wider context. Converters contain metals whose value rises and falls, and when that value climbs, she said, thefts tend to climb with it. ICBC's figures point the same way. The insurer has recorded 1,189 converter thefts this year, with roughly $2.3 million in claims, already more than the 1,060 thefts logged in all of 2020.
Anyone with information about this theft or others is asked to call Surrey RCMP at 604-599-0502, or to contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 to remain anonymous. With the suspects unidentified and the metals still valuable, the year-end ICBC numbers are the thing to watch.
A Surrey woman looked out on Thursday afternoon and caught a thief in the middle of taking a catalytic converter. Police are now looking for two suspects. The theft happened in the 10800-block of 142 Street and was reported to police shortly after 5 p.m., according to Surrey RCMP Cpl. Vanessa Munn.
The woman spoke to the Surrey Now-Leader about what she saw. "This happened to me yesterday," she said, and she called the experience terrifying. The source material does not say how she came to witness the theft, whether she confronted anyone, or whether the converter was taken from her own vehicle. It does not describe the suspects beyond saying there are two of them.
Munn put the incident in the context of a wider pattern. Catalytic converters contain certain metals, and as the value of those metals goes up, she said, police tend to see more converter thefts. She described an apparent increase, tying it directly to the rising value of what is inside the part.
Insurance figures from ICBC back up the sense of a climb. The Crown corporation reports 1,189 catalytic converter thefts so far this year, resulting in roughly $2.3 million in claims. In all of 2020, there were 1,060 such thefts. This year's total has therefore already passed last year's, even though the year is not over.
The cost to ICBC is only part of what these thefts represent. The Surrey case shows another side: a theft carried out on a residential block in the late afternoon, with a witness close enough to describe it afterward as frightening. Police have not said whether anyone was hurt, and nothing in the report suggests anyone was.
RCMP are asking anyone with information about this theft, or about other catalytic converter thefts, to contact Surrey RCMP at 604-599-0502. People who prefer to stay anonymous can call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477. With two suspects still unidentified and the metals inside the converters still valuable, the numbers ICBC reports will be the thing to watch as the year closes.
Citações Notáveis
This happened to me yesterday. It was terrifying.— Surrey woman who witnessed the theft, to the Now-Leader
As the value of certain metals in converters rises, police tend to see more thefts.— Cpl. Vanessa Munn, Surrey RCMP (paraphrased)
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Crime & Justice