Nonprofit says catalytic converter theft was thwarted with help from KVVU’s Surprise Squad
By JOE VIGIL
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LAS VEGAS (KVVU) — A nonprofit that helps people with intellectual disabilities cheered when the FOX5 Surprise Squad came to the rescue this summer.
Thieves ripped off catalytic converters from four work vans belonging to Transition Services. Those vans shuttle crews around to clean up parts of the metro area.
Some of those workers were very upset because the theft halted some of their clean-up duties due to the vans being out of commission.
Not only did United Nissan pay to replace all four catalytic converters, along with renting vans during repairs, it paid to install protective devices around the replaced converters to prevent thieves from cutting them out.
Transition Services believes those devices paid off on Saturday night when officials say they believe a thief tried to steal converters again.
“We are very confident that the cages that were put on definitely are hindering these people from taking them,” said Transition Services supervisor Karin Ortega.
Ortega said an alert neighbor, who knew of the previous theft, had been keeping an eye on the vans at the nonprofit in the Spring Valley area.
Ortega said on Saturday around 9 p.m., the woman saw the shadow of a person underneath one van with a light. That woman called police. Police did show up but said they didn’t find anything suspicious.
Ortega said surveillance video shows a small green car that pulled away from the scene at the time of the attempted theft. She believes the same small green car was also captured on camera near the beginning of the month at the nonprofit. The car and a person can be seen near the vans before the car pulls away.
Ortega said the nonprofit just wants to be left alone but considers the incident on Saturday a small win in the fight against catalytic converter thieves.
“Oh, yeah! We’ve been smiling ever since. He didn’t get us this time,” said Ortega.
Thieves steal catalytic converters, part of a vehicle’s exhaust system, for the precious metals inside. The metals are used to clean exhaust and can be worth more than gold when melted down. Repairs can run into the thousands of dollars if someone is uninsured. Police have said some people are not able to drive their cars after a theft because repairs are too expensive.
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