Free Republic

A quick-thinking forklift driver ruined an Ohio man's plans to steal a car by lifting the vehicle 20 feet in the air with the suspect still inside. Only when he was trapped up there did they take the time to call the police. It all went down in October at Arlington Auto Wrecking in Akron, Ohio. This was the third incident they had with this guy, but when they got him this time, even the 911 operators were cracking up when an employee called in the situation: “So, he’s still in the car about 20 feet in the air in...

Chicago police arrested two men and recovered over 200 catalytic converters from a building on the city’s West Side on Friday. More details about the allegations against the men will be released when they appear in bond court on Saturday afternoon. Marzel Woodard and Vincent Parks, both 36, are charged with aggravated possession of a stolen motor vehicle. Woodard is also charged with organized aggravated vehicle theft conspiracy, police said. Possessing a stolen critical piece of an automobile, such as a catalytic converter, is equivalent to having the entire vehicle under Illinois law. The arrests and recovery, made in the...

Federal investigators on Wednesday announced the arrest of seven Massachusetts men who they say are responsible for stealing at least $2 million in catalytic converters from vehicles across New England in recent months. Rafael “Robin Hood” Davila, 35, of Feeding Hills, Jose “Goldy” Torres, 37, of Springfield, Nicolas Davila, 25, of Springfield, Jose “Charlito” Fonseca, 26, of Springfield, Zachary Marshall, 26, of Holyoke, Santo Feliberty, 34, of Springfield, and Alexander “Dirty” Oyola, 37, of Springfield, have been charged with conspiracy to transport stolen property in interstate commerce, interstate transportation of stolen property, conspiracy to commit bank theft, bank theft, and...

The Global warming Scam was obviously created by a group of people who had something to gain. A LOT of money has been made by certain people in the right positions.Our own Governor,  Jerry  Moonbeam Brown has a personal vested interest in Global warming.  You see, Moonbeams  family owns rights to a patent on catalytic converters.  Uncle Jerry and his family have made a LOT of money off of this Global Warming scam, dating clear back to the early 1970's. The main function of a catalytic converter is to "convert"  CO,  (carbon MON-oxide),  into  CO2, ( Carbon DI-oxide) . Here's ...

Catalytic converters, copper plumbing and even central air conditioning units have topped some thieves’ most-wanted lists in recent weeks as they hope to cash in on rising scrap metal prices. Area police say the recent rash of metal thefts likely is a reflection of the sluggish economy and are warning homeowners and residents to take steps to protect their property. In the last month, eight catalytic converters, a pollution-control device that helps reduce vehicle emissions, have been cut from six vehicles at Waikem Auto dealerships in Perry Township. It’s not the catalytic converter part, however, that is luring thieves to...

Chemical engineers have found a cheaper and possibly better material than platinum for cleaning up the exhaust streams of diesel vehicles. Many automobiles use platinum-containing catalytic converters to help clean their exhaust streams of various pollutants, notably the nitrogen oxide compounds that can contribute to smog. But the high and volatile price of the precious metal makes it difficult to build an economical catalyst. An alternative material, known as perovskite, is far less expensive than platinum and may do the job more effectively, engineers from the research arm of General Motors report in the March 26 Science. “It’s excellent work,...

Greens snub eco-cars Sweden has an international reputation for being environmentally progressive. With two weeks to go before elections, it turns our only a very small percentage of those politicians registered at Parliament actually have an eco-friendly car – and Green Party politicians are most likely to have a polluting old car. Although ethanol, biogas and hybrids have been big sellers in Sweden the past few years, of the party leaders only Centre leader Maud Olofsson owns one. Many cars produced in the 80s and before lacked catalytic converters, a small device used to reduce the toxicity of emissions from...