Punks stole my catalytic converter

[The Desert Rat]

Just thought I'd throw this up. I'm sure others have had their stolen as well. But, in my case the idiots did it right in front of my camera system. It hasn't' paid off yet since the cops haven't found the perps but who knows. They drove by at 3:00 a.m. in a light colored four door import and one guy jumped out first to check out the 4Runner. Then they drove around the block and parked up the street. One guy acted as lookout while the other guy unbolted the cat. Both were Asian males. The local cops say they have been hammered with cat thefts pretty much every week. 30 reports just in the last two months alone.

 

[4runner_kid]

Where you at? This happens a lot in the Sac area. I like how he is looking right at the camera in 2 shot's.

 

[kman55]

Damn I can't believe you got him on camera! It happened to me too a year ago or so, sorry buddy. People are such a holes sometimes!

 

[Borebrotherbore]

Nice that you go 'em on camera. I would try to find out who they are, then tell their moms. You don't have to worry about involving the police, because their Asian mothers will murder them :uzi:

Also, I'm pretty sure that guy is a demon. His eyes are glowing at me!

 

[Dilong26]

Thats it, I'm attaching spikes to mine.

 

[The Desert Rat]

I am in Livermore. The local cops say that these crooks are driving from out of town, mostly from the Stockton area and some from Sacto. The local recycling shops are heavily under the gun not to buy stolen cats and are watched closely. Apparently out in the valley not so much, or at least there are places which still take cats no questions asked for cash. My muffler shop says they are replacing cats every week. Once they throw in a Magnaflow aftermarket, they stay put. Apparently the 4Runner and Tacoma stock cats are worth about $150. A stolen Magnaflow brings about $5...

 

[4dailyRunner]

What kind of camera system are you using?

1 - I don't "like" your post. What happened sucks!!!!
2 - I "like" the camera you used.

I often considered using one of the motion activated, "Big Game" cameras for this very reason.

I hope the police can help.

 

[The Desert Rat]

Camera system is from a company called Swann. I did quite a bit of research on home camera systems looking at Lorex, Q-See and others. Short of going with a top of the line industrial system, I thought Swann offered the best bang for the buck and the best night system.

 

[Duhockey]

Camera system is from a company called Swann. I did quite a bit of research on home camera systems looking at Lorex, Q-See and others. Short of going with a top of the line industrial system, I thought Swann offered the best bang for the buck and the best night system.

so does a light come on and thats why the eyes reflect the light? light must also be shadowing the camera, so the guy cant tell hes being watched??

 

[TRDCal]

Cocksuckers!! This is where it pays off to live in the snowbelt. I'd like to see that little bas**** try and get my cat off, it's so rusted on there he'd need torches and a big hammer just to get it to budge.

 

[Drcoffee]

Cocksuckers!! This is where it pays off to live in the snowbelt. I'd like to see that little bas**** try and get my cat off, it's so rusted on there he'd need torches and a big hammer just to get it to budge.

It happens here in Chicagoland too but here they use battery powered sawzalls to cut them out. Maybe using a car alarm with a proximity sensor would help.

 

[MFBATZ]

This is also happening in So Cal. My old college sent out an email that there have been thefts ON campus, more specifically 4Runners.

 

[034RUNNER]

Wow, I never thought people would steal cat's. That sucks, the guy looks like a total putz too. Hope they find the moron/s, I'd wanna beat him/them with a pipe.

 

[MFBATZ]

Wow, I never thought people would steal cat's. That sucks, the guy looks like a total putz too. Hope they find the moron/s, I'd wanna beat him/them with a pipe.

I always wondered why I hadn't heard of people stealing them, considering how valuable platinum is. I guess it was a matter of time?

 

[SigSense]

Sorry this **** happened to you. Good job on the documentation! This will assist law enforcement a lot. Do you still have your Xmas lights up, or what kind of lights are those in the pics?

 

[The Desert Rat]

It happened when the Christmas lights were up, but they were off by 0300. The cameras have red LED lights to assist with the infrared recording and anybody with a brain should have seen them. He is looking right into the camera in the one picture. The lights are not bright, but you can definitely tell there is a double ring of red LED lights glowing slightly around the camera lens. The cat thefts are now epidemic in our area. The news is finally starting to pick upon it. I still plan on editing the video all together and sending it to the local news station.

 

[The Desert Rat]

Also, the 4Runner and the Tacoma have been the most popular ones because they are high in the air, easy to get under, and four bolts hold the cat on. But, as stated, the sawzall method is growing in popularity for any vehicle without a bolt in cat or where the bolts are hard to get to. Apparently they wrap a towel around the spot they want to cut to deaden the noise, make a cut front and rear and off they go. Many people are reporting that their O2 sensors are getting damaged when this happens and it is costing them a lot more to replace.

 

[chmura]

Sorry to hear that this happened to you!

This is a problem is Southern California also.

My friend got his cats stolen his in 98 4runner last year when he was at the store in Santa Ana, Ca. He jumped in his car and started it and the car was LOUD. He looked under and saw a missing cat. Drove it home cop pulled him over because his car was extremely loud. But cop let him go when he told him what had happened.

Hope they catch these guys!

Definitely edit the video and send it to the news stations!

 

[YotaMan4]

im glad i keep mine in the garage, id hate to have to shoot somebody haha..

 

[SubyGuy]

This might be the guys!!

These might be the punks, One of the mug shots looks similar. They are from Sac. like you thought but got busted in Santa

cruz.Man arraigned in catalytic converter thefts, preliminary hearing set for two other suspects - San Jose Mercury News

Names were Fue Lee 21 and Yee Lee 32 if my link doesnt work.