A 46-year-old Lonedell man has been arrested for allegedly stealing nearly $76,000 worth of catalytic converters from vehicles parked at dealerships and auto repair shops all around the county.
Several law enforcement agencies are seeking felony stealing charges against him, including the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and the Arnold, Festus and Herculaneum police departments.
“This was a big find because of the amount of money involved here and the damage,” said Capt. Ralph Brown of the Sheriff’s Office.
At about 11 p.m. Oct. 8, Arnold Police pulled over the man at Jeffco Boulevard and Pleasant Valley Drive for driving erratically and reportedly found burglary tools inside his vehicle, said Capt. Robert Ruckman of the Arnold Police Department.
During their investigation, they discovered the man allegedly had stolen a catalytic converter from a 2002 Ford Escape parked at the Best Auto repair shop, 2120 Michigan Ave., in Arnold sometime between Sept. 24 and Oct. 8, Ruckman said.
The estimated value of that catalytic converter was $450, Arnold Police reported.
Arnold Police contacted the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, which has been investigating the recent theft of 35 catalytic converters off vehicles for sale at the InstaCredit Automart, 4040 Jeffco Blvd., just south of Arnold.
Between Oct. 1 and Oct. 2, the man allegedly stole 21 catalytic converters from the used car dealership, and between Oct. 2 and Oct. 4, he allegedly stole 14 more from the business, the Sheriff’s Office reported.
In all, those catalytic converters were valued at $14,000, the report said.
The man also is suspected of stealing nearly $30,000 worth of catalytic converters from vehicles for sale at the Lucas-Smith Chrysler Dodge Jeep auto dealership, 1600 Parkway West, in Festus.
Some of those were stolen late on Sept. 24 or early on Sept. 25, and the others between Sept. 28 and Sept. 29, Festus Police Chief Tim Lewis said.
The man also allegedly stole $31,437 worth of catalytic converters from Reuther Ford, 1325 McNutt St., in Herculaneum between 12:15 and 5:05 a.m. Sept. 23, said Capt. Kenneth Baur of the Herculaneum Police Department.
Brown said the arrest was the result of cooperation among all those agencies.
“This was a good cleanup,” he said. “It was a combined effort. We (all the agencies) put that (information about the thefts) out on our system. We shared that information and started to develop leads, and that’s when the Arnold P.D. got this guy stopped, on something unrelated, and during the course (of that traffic stop), they saw all these tools associated with information that was put out there, and then our detectives responded and said, ‘Whoa, look at what we have here.’ With this investigation, we were able to get this cleaned up.”
The suspect was booked and then released pending the application for warrants, Brown said.
Lewis said Festus Police also are seeking charges against an 18-year-old Bloomsdale man they believe was an accomplice.
Brown said the Sheriff’s Office, however, is not seeking charges against that man, who has been assisting with the investigation
All the law enforcement agencies said the investigation is still underway.
The Lonedell man also is suspected of stealing catalytic converters in St. Louis County, Arnold Police reported.
People who steal catalytic converters usually sell them for scrap, authorities said.
They also said it’s expensive to repair a vehicle after its catalytic converter is cut off.
“The vehicle has to be taken out of service, and no one can sell or drive it (until it’s repaired),” Brown said. “Then, what’s the availability of that catalytic converter? So, the dealerships are encumbered.”
As of Friday (Oct. 17), no charges had been filed, Brown said.
“We have a long way to go (with the investigation),” he said.