Indiana State Police say suspects are harvesting catalytic converters from abandoned vehicles parked along the shoulders of interstates around the state.
Two women were caught on a traffic camera Saturday removing a catalytic converter from under a car parked along the side of I-70.
“In this particular instance, we found two more catalytic converters in the back seat of their car, and those catalytic converters had been freshly cut off of two other abandoned vehicles in the area and we were able to match those up,” ISP Sergeant John Perrine said.
Elizabeth Smith, 27, and Farrah Carpenter, 28, were charged with theft. Both are from Indianapolis.
Thieves usually sell the metal inside the catalytic converters.
“It’s not near the amount of money it is worth being on someone’s car or the cost to replace it,” Perrine said.
Another suspect was caught with 17 stolen catalytic converters by troopers in a joint operation between ISP and the Ohio State Highway Patrol.
