A US man was crushed to loss of life whereas allegedly attempting to steal a catalytic convertor from beneath a automobile in a automotive yard, police in Georgia mentioned.
Officers have been known as on March 7 after the person, Matthew Eric Smith, 32, was discovered useless below a automotive.
“Evidence at the scene indicates that the man was killed while he was illegally removing a catalytic converter from the vehicle, and the vehicle fell on top of him,” a police assertion mentioned.
The converters, which scale back air pollution and poisonous gasoline from a automobile’s emissions, are comparatively simple to steal and comprise worthwhile valuable metals corresponding to palladium, platinum and rhodium.
Last yr, federal, state and native legislation enforcement carried out a “coordinated takedown” of a multimillion-dollar community of catalytic converter thieves, sellers and processors that led to 21 arrests in 5 states.
“Some of these precious metals are more valuable per ounce than gold and their value has been increasing in recent years,” the Justice Department mentioned on the time.
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“The black market price for catalytic converters can be above US $1000 each, depending on the type of vehicle and what state it is from.
“They may be stolen in lower than a minute.”
Last year, according to police, 39 catalytic convertors were stolen from vehicles in Chatham County, Georgia.
Source: www.9news.com.au
