In this undated photo provided by the Utah Attorney General's Office, catalytic converters are shown after being seized in a recent investigation.
Around the same time, a few miles away, Greg Nelson and his girlfriend woke up on a Sunday morning to the same problem with their Toyota Prius. David Glawe of the National Insurance Crime Bureau says the thefts accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic because of the rare precious metals inside catalytic converters.
“The price per ounce has just gone up exponentially since COVID-19,” Glawe says, “so it's very valuable throughout that entire supply chain.” The National Insurance Crime Bureau is sponsoring programs to etch vehicle identification numbers on the parts and to add club-like devices to cars to make stealing catalytic converters more difficult, Glawe says.