Thieves target catalytic converters in Chicago's Hyde Park

Chicago Police are warning Hyde Park neighborhood residents after thieves stole several catalytic converters in April. 

In each incident, the catalytic converters were taken from parked vehicles at the following locations:

• The 1100 block of East 52nd St. between April 10, 2024, at 5:00 p.m. and April 11, 2024, at 6:45 a.m.
• The 1200 block of East 54th St. on April 12, 2024, at 7:30 p.m.
• The 5300 block of South Cornell Ave. between April 9, 2024, at 10:00 p.m. and April 13, 2024, at 7:00 p.m.
• The 5100 block of South Kenwood Ave. between April 13, 2024, at 3:00 p.m. and April 13, 2024, at 3:15 p.m.

Anyone with information should contact  Area One detectives at  (312) 747-8384.

In March, a retired Evanston police officer was grazed by a bullet while trying to stop a catalytic converter thief in the Bronzeville neighborhood.  

Nobody has been arrested in any of the cases. 

CBS 2 has covered the steep rise in thieves stealing catalytic converters across Chicago and found few people have ever been arrested.   

According to data obtained by the CBS 2 Investigators via the Freedom of Information Act, reports for stolen catalytic converters hit a recent high in August of 2022, with 900 stolen that month.  

They dropped over the winter but ticked up again in the summer of last year. A total of 577 were stolen this past August. 

But the number of arrests caught the CBS 2 Investigators' attention- all in the single digits. Police made three arrests in August. The same was true in June when 684 catalytic converters were stolen.

Thieves target the parts because of the value of the metal inside. Illinois law bans cash sales for catalytic converters over $99 and requires metal dealers to keep electronic records of transactions involving the car parts.