Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart announces charges in catalytic converter theft ring
CHICAGO (CBS) – CBS 2 has been reporting on thieves stealing catalytic converters for months.
Now, the Cook County Sheriff's office is celebrating a major victory. Sheriff Tom Dart announced charges Thursday morning against at least one person for stealing more than 600 catalytic converters.
Thieves have been sawing the part off of vehicles to sell for scrap metal. Dart said hundreds of people have been targeted almost every day.
"The people who go out to their car, who start it up to go about their day, and then all of a sudden they are immediately aware with the fact that their car has been vandalized and their catalytic converter has been stolen," Dart said. "And now they get to go about this really pleasant process and spend thousands of dollars to get their car back to being used."
Now, as CBS 2's Andrew Ramos reported, Sheriff's police are calling this the largest bust of its kind ever to happen in the country. The suspect at the center of it all is the owner of a tow trucking company.
According to the sheriff's office, officers responded to an alarm on Sunday in the 6000 block of 128th Place in unincorporated Worth Township. The Sheriff's Police Street Crimes Suppression Unit found out it was the property of 40-year-old Ramsy Sandoka, who owns a tow company.
It was a scene Cliff Turner said he never thought would unfold in the 50 years he has lived on the same quiet block where the bust was made.
"My wife noticed several police cars out here – Sheriff's police," Turner said. "They took away somebody - which we didn't know who it was - in handcuffs, and then they started coming with the truck and taking out from that gate over there - the converters."
No one answered front door when Sheriff's police came to Sandoka's house. When they walked around the property to make sure it was secure, they found hundreds of catalytic converters in a crate and along a fence in Sandoka's backyard.
Authorities didn't find any records that he or his business had a license to sell or recycle the converters.
"We do know that he had no records for any of this stuff, so it wasn't anything like there was a transaction cleared," Dart said.
After a search warrant was issued, Sandoka was placed in custody - and 612 catalytic converters were seized.
The catalytic converters were on full display - further highlighting a widespread problem on which law enforcement officers are trying to get a handle.
"These networks are pretty sophisticated, to be frank with you, where they take them," Dart said. "They take them people they call aggregators – accumulate all these - then they take them to people who then take them apart themselves, melt them down, and then sell them."
The metals inside a converter could fetch up to hundreds of a pop.
While it is impossible to know when these thieves will strike next, there are some things you can do now to lower their chances of being victimized
"Obviously parking in the garage - the best; parking in a well-lit area,": Dart said. "Cameras around – like Ring cameras – really, really helpful as well."
Sheriff Dart said his department will continue to host pop-up events where drivers can get their catalytic converters spray-painted in an effort to deter thieves.
It remains unclear how Sandoka came to possess these catalytic converters - and what role his towing company may have played in all this.
He is charged with aggravated possession of a stolen vehicle, a Class 1 felony.
