Butler police Monday charged a city man with stealing a neighbor’s catalytic converter last week.

John D. Dunmyre Jr., 27, admitted that on Friday he cut the emissions control system part from a car parked outside in back of the owner’s house in the 100 block of Third Avenue in Butler, according to court documents.

City police arrested Dunmyre shortly after he showed at Greco Materials Recycling on Kittanning Street to sell the converter.

Employees at the business about 2:15 p.m. Friday notified authorities that Dunmyre came in but they did not buy the part because he did not have identification. Police were told that he drove away in a white Chevrolet sedan.

Officers a short time later stopped Dunmyre’s car at a convenience store on East Jefferson Street.

He is charged with a first-degree misdemeanor count of theft for allegedly stealing the converter, valued at $300.

Police said they continue to investigate at least one other recent catalytic converter theft in the city. That device was stolen April 6 from a 1989 Chevy pickup truck at Denny Offstein Auto Sales on Hazel Avenue in Butler’s Island neighborhood.

Investigators did not immediately say if they have any suspects in that case.

Several other police departments throughout the county also are investigating a rash of catalytic converter thefts since late March.

The device is connected to the vehicle’s exhaust system and contains precious metals that can be easily recycled for cash. Police say thieves are getting anywhere from $50 to $100 for each converter. It can cost up to $1,000 to replace a stolen converter.

A Mars area man is jailed in Allegheny County on charges he stole catalytic converters from two vehicles last week at a park-and-ride lot in Ross Township.

But Ross Township police say the alleged thief, 27-year-old Taylor Baldt, is suspected of stealing numerous other converters from vehicles in Allegheny County’s North Hills and in Butler County.

Butler police, meanwhile, on Monday also accused Dunmyre of selling for scrap stolen copper pipes allegedly stripped from a vacant house in the 500 block of Center Avenue earlier this month.

The defendant on Friday admitted that he knew about but did not participate in the burglary, court documents said. He said that he later was given a duffel bag filled with the stolen pipes.

He told police that he took the pipes to an Oakland Township salvage yard and sold them for $26.

Dunmyre in that case is charged with a misdemeanor count of receiving stolen property.