Car owner exchanges gunfire with would-be catalytic converter thieves in Miami-Dade: Police

NBCMiami.com ^ | December 6, 2023 | Amanda Plasencia and Brian Hamacher

[marktwain]

Thieves think nothing of doing thousands of dollars of damage in order to gain a hundred dollars for their pocket.

[Redcitizen]

If there vehicle is nearby, good time to flatten their tires so they have to buy new ones.

[stars & stripes forever]

How long will it be before thieves see the value of swiping electric car batteries?

[SaveFerris]

I would acquit anyone stopping thieves

[Cowman]

Even thieves don’t want EV’s

[MortMan]

Three times in a row I read the title in the new feed as “Cat Owner...”

[stylin19a]

might as well steal the whole car...

[bert]

But remember, thieves are thieves because they are just ignorant and can’t do better.

[stars & stripes forever]

Now that those cold blooded crooks know the man’s identity, they may attempt to retaliate against him. His identity and address should have been kept anonymous.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

"If you witness a crime we encourage you not to engage with the subjects, please call the police and we will be there to assist you in this situation as fast as we can," he said.

BWAAAA-HAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!

[wally_bert]

Same here.

[Gideon300]

“But remember, thieves are thieves because they are just ignorant and can’t do better.”

I’m assuming this is sarcasm, but I believe thieves are thieves because they are lazy, greedy, evil-minded SOBs.

[bert]

No sarcasm and, you are correct.

Ignorance is the end result of being lazy, greedy, evil-minded SOBs.

[oldtech]

Flattening the thieves tires might be the only safe thing to do...then call the police.If you call the police just as the crime is underway, they might not get their in time & you will have a hefty repair bill at the best. I have an older car with a converter & found out that replacement would cost just about what they valued the car at. Soething wrong here as I’ve read that a converter’s actual valuable catalyst material is not nearly that much. The rest is mostly just steel. So...in other words what the thief receives is only a small part of what it will cost you for replacement. Try finding a shop that would weld a pipe in place of the converter & good luck. You may live in a state that has no inspection & get lucky. Here is an area where the feds could adjust to state laws on that, but good luck there too.

[Sirius Lee]

I believe thieves are thieves because they are lazy

Well. These ones are enterprising enough to take a sawzall and climb under cars in the middle of the night to steal the things, and then transact them later for profit.

That requires some effort.

[bert]

As an example of ignorance and thievery,

Just a day or two ago, I received an email attempting to persuade me to pay a past due bill to Norton. I laughed at it because it was so terribly inept. The thief had no real understanding of what he was attempting. He did a fairly good job of copying some Norton sales stuff.

He failed because he was ignorant

He used his email. He was 28513@@#$%?college.edu. I sent a copy to the chairman of the college board of trustees.

[SaveFerris]

👍👍👍

[TangoLimaSierra]

How long will it be before thieves see the value of swiping electric car batteries?

Considering the weight of those battery packs (1,000 to 2,000lbs), that ain't gonna happen.

[Fresh Wind]

When seconds count, the police are minutes away social workers are days away.

[Pontiac]

How long will it be before thieves see the value of swiping electric car batteries?

Probably never.

As far as I know they have no scrape value.

The only way I can think of that you could make a buck is if someone was willing to pay you to steal a specific battery to replace a failed one.

And considering how heavy the batteries are, you would have to take a fork lift with you on the job.