Catalytic Converter Thieves Escape in a Bright Yellow Lamborghini SUV
This whole catalytic converter theft issue seems to be getting out of hand.
Catalytic converter theft is a growing problem that costs vehicle owners millions of dollars annually. If you're wondering why thieves are risking life and limb to steal a device that cleans smog, well, inside catalytic converter lives various precious and rare metals such as platinum, palladium, rhodium. Those metals are worth a pretty penny on the open market. Hence, criminals who want to make a quick buck are targeting popular models such as the Toyota Prius hybrid and Chevrolet Silverado to steal the devices and flip them for a few hundred bucks.
Snatch enough converters—and, you know, find somewhere that will accept large numbers of "used" units without questions—and it could be a lucrative criminal enterprise. Still, we couldn't imagine someone being able to afford a Lamborghini on the proceeds, let alone using that Lambo to... steal more catalytic converters.
And yet, the Torrance, California Police Department just tweeted a video catching a crew of catalytic converter thieves in the act. And wouldn't you know it, they roll up to their theftdriving a freakin' 2022 Lamborghini Urus as a getaway car! Assuming the Urus wasn't stolen, or rented, or that these guys aren't stealing cats full time and were merely out on a thrill ride of sorts, one has to wonder just how many smog sweepers these hooligans stole to afford a $220,000 super-SUV?!
If that weren't brazenly wild enough, the Urus is bright yellow! It seems like the suspects were operating under the theory that the easiest way to blend is to be as far from inconspicuous as possible.
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If you give it a ponder, it isn't a completely ridiculous idea. How many of us would suspect a group of people driving in an exotic SUV to be a crew of thieves crawling under cars and hacking off bits of exhaust pipe? According to the police tweet, the theft happened around 4:00 am on November 9, 2022 in the 3800 block of 184th street in Torrance, California. The security video shows four male suspects climbing out of their very yellow Urus, jacking up what appears to be Nissan NV200 work van, liberating the catalytic converter and then leaving.
Hopefully the suspects will be caught soon. If catalytic converter thieves are driving bright yellow Lamborghinis now, then that is a pretty clear sign that law enforcement needs a lot more help cracking down on these crimes.
Andrew Beckford’s passion for cars started as a middle schooler when his friend Richie explained how an internal combustion engine works. He was bitten by the bug and the rest, as they say, is history. He dug deep into the tuner scene and eventually wrote for Turbo Magazine, Import Tuner, Super Street. He covered car shows, feature builds, and reviewed racing games for those magazines in addition to covering motorsports including Formula Drift, Indy Car, and F1 for his personal blog. Eventually Beckford joined MotorTrend to cover the daily automotive news beat. Besides being a gearhead, Beckford has been a gamer since the ’80s and is a huge fan of the arcade racing games of the ’90s like Daytona USA, SEGA Rally, and Ridge Racer. Beckford’s a movie buff as well, especially comic book films from DC and Marvel. When car culture crosses over with gaming and entertainment, rest assured Beckford is aware of it. In addition to serving as a consultant on a “triple A” racing titles, he’s reviewed major racing games such as Forza Motorsport, Need for Speed, Gran Turismo, F1, and more. He’s also interviewed blockbuster directors including Steven Caple Jr. (Transformers: Rise of the Beasts) and Neill Blomkamp (Gran Turismo). His biggest profile to date was with Robert Downey Jr. on his love affair with cars and his show Downey’s Dream Cars on MAX. Beckford’s profile of Downey Jr. was the first print cover story written by an African American in MotorTrend’s history. Along with KJ Jones, Andrew Beckford also heads up MotorTrend’s celebration of Black History Month by spotlighting diverse voices in the automotive industry and motorsports. Beckford’s first car was a 1982 Nissan Stanza affectionately named “Stanley” by his late mother.
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