Tulsa Police Says Catalytic Converter Thefts Are On The Rise

The Tulsa Police Department is looking for the suspects responsible for stealing parts of a van from a local business on Friday.

Surveillance video shows a person scouting the parking lot of Rustic Cuff. Later, the person stole a catalytic converter around 6:15 a.m. Friday morning.

Other surveillance video thieves using a power saw to steal another catalytic converter from the same location.

Interior Logistics president Terry Donovan said he never thought something like this would happen to him. Interior Logistics is another company that has cars parked in the same lot.

"You just feel violated,” Donovan said. “You feel like 'OK, now what? What's next?’ Then, you just start to be apprehensive about the next move and what you need to do to protect your investment." 

Donovan said the thieves left just minutes before he came in for work.

"It was just so brazen," Donovan said. "It was so calculated. They just saw the trucks there and drove up and, in a few minutes, the catalytic converters were gone."

When Interior Logistics project manager Raul Orriols turned on his van, he noticed it sounded a lot louder than usual.

Orriols went underneath the van to search for the problem where he noticed the catalytic converter was gone.

He wondered what happened to it. When Orriols checked the security cameras, he found his answer. 

"Probably the first thing I started thinking was, 'OK, to whom are they selling this to?'" Orriols said. 

Tulsa police said there has been an increase in catalytic converter thefts, primarily in SUVs and pick-up trucks.

If you have any information that could lead to the thieves' arrests, call crime stoppers at 918-596-COPS.