Angry Central MN Man Shares His Account of Stolen Catalytic Converter
With an ongoing string of catalytic converter thefts around Central Minnesota, one Minnesota man is sharing his story as a word of caution to others.
A Minnesota man living in Central Minnesota took to the Minnesota thread of Reddit over the weekend to share his account of being robbed of his vehicle's catalytic converters.
"I live in the middle of nowhere in central MN on a little dirt road," Reddit user u/asdfqwer426's post begins. "Just found out two of my catalytic converters were cut out."
He goes on to explain that he and his wife own four vehicles -- two "daily drivers," a "junker" and a Jeep. He recently went out to start the Jeep "for the first time in a few weeks" and was surprised to find it "loud." As it turned out, the Jeep and the junker had both had their catalytic converters "cut out." Fortunately, the thieves didn't get the converters from their everyday-use vehicles, perhaps because they sit too low to the ground, he guessed. "As if this damn pandemic hadn't already just about killed my faith in this community," he concludes. "Good luck MN." He includes an edit at the end of his post for those wondering where he lives -- "kind of along the border of Kanabec and Mille-lacs."
I live in the middle of nowhere in central MN on a little dirt road - just found out two of my catalytic converters were cut out, watch yourself MN! from r/minnesota
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Some in the comment section have speculated whether the thefts have been to fuel a drug addition.
"Meth is a hell of a drug..." commented one.
"Gotta get drug money somehow," said another. Someone else shared a similar story of a near-theft. "I just took a [catalytic converter] clamp to my mechanic to put on my SUV. He laughed and told me how it will never happen and it was a waste of money. The next day he started his pickup and it was loud as hell. The thieves only got one side cut and the security lights came on so he didn't lose it but close. He's buying a cat clamp." Other comments report thefts as far and wide as Duluth to San Francisco.
According to WJON, catalytic converters "contain copper and other expensive metals, making them valuable when sold to recyclers."
You can read the full Reddit thread here.
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