Wadsworth Community Radio

As precious metal prices rise, catalytic converter thefts seem to also.

“Thieves have stolen the catalytic converters off of over half of our fleet of vans,” said Betsy Rozak with Windfall Industries, whose packing facility and vocational training is in Wadsworth.

Windfall is a local non-profit that provides high quality service and products to individuals with disabilities, while providing comprehensive training, career growth, job placement and other vocational opportunities.

According to the Wadsworth Police Department, a total of 10 catalytic converters have been stolen from company vans at the Quadral Drive non-profit over a span of a month and a half.

A
ll of the current reports are open investigations and Wadsworth police are actively following up on possible leads.

In the meantime, Windfall Industries has created a GoFundMe page to try and help cover the cost of the repairs and to help pay for their new ongoing off-site storage costs for their vehicles. The non-profit has been informed by their  insurance agency that their rates “will increase significantly” if they submit all of the repairs as claims.

“These thieves have trespassed on our property and cut and removed the catalytic converters off of 10 of our 16 vans in the past month. This has caused a terrible hardship for our company and has made it very difficult for us to continue to provide the much needed services for the individuals that we care for,” Rozak said in the GoFundMe page. “After making it through the difficult pandemic, we are now faced with this tremendous challenge that has been forced upon us by thoughtless, local thieves.”

Rozak wants to keep the community informed of what is happening around them and also warn other local businesses.

Aside from the theft reports from Windfall Industries, Wadsworth police said their last reports in the area for theft of catalytic converters were two reports for a company on Seville Road in October 2020.

Thieves steal catalytic converters because they contain precious metals that are valuable to scrap metal dealers. According to Google, one catalytic converter can be scrapped for $200.

Categories: News

Tina Heiberg

Tina happily lives in her princess palace with her husband, 3 young sons and dog.