I belong to a Facebook Group called Waterbury Talks, and I noticed that a local non-profit organization, Easterseals of Greater Waterbury, suffered a terrible loss due to theft.

According to the post, over this past weekend, (May 8-9, 2021), someone stole 11 Catalytic Converters off of the Easterseals vehicles parked in the lot outside of their Tomkins Street headquarters. These vans are used to transport individuals with disabilities to and from work. Repairing the damaged vans and replacing 11 Catalytic Converters is going to be a huge expense. I hope that the vehicles insurance will cover the expense.

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I've read more and more lately about Catalytic Converter thefts here in Connecticut and across the nation. What makes them so valuable that someone would get down underneath your vehicle in the dead of night and saw them off? The precious metals used inside that magically cleanse pollutants from your vehicle's exhaust system.

One of the precious metals used in Catalytic Converters is rhodium, which has recently vaulted up to $28,000 an ounce. Each Catalytic Converter contains trace amounts of rhodium, which at this inflated price, still equals out to a couple hundred bucks for each converter.

As you can imagine, with the cost of the metals used inside the converters being so expensive, the cost of replacing them has skyrocketed. I called a buddy of mine who works at a dealership along Straits Turnpike in Watertown and he told me that the average price to replace one is about two grand lately. Terrible. I hope that someone who lives in that area of Bunker Hill in Waterbury has some footage that can help the WPD and Easterseals catch whoever did this to their vehicles.

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