It is only the second month of the new year and police have already responded to dozens of catalytic converter thefts in New Jersey, especially along the Interstate 195 corridor.
News 12 spoke with police departments in Lakewood, Brick and Wall Township, where combined more than 30 thefts took place – since Jan. 1.
“I heard what appeared to be a drill or some sort of hacksaw and for a few minutes, I was startled. Then I heard it again and went to the bedroom window and I saw a sedan – white sedan – parked next to my company vehicle,” said Paul Clemente, a theft victim in the Thousand Oaks section of Howell Township. “It had to be about 30 seconds – between 30 and 45 seconds – no longer than that.”
Thieves driving a white or silver sedan with tinted windows got away with Clemente’s work Nissan NV’s catalytic converter.
“With the converters being stolen, it’s constant. We get probably at least two a week. Some weeks we get more,” said Nicole Regan.
Regan and her dad own the Howell Meineke on Route 9 – just over the Lakewood border. A few months ago, their business became a target.