Metal thieves are on the prowl in Butler County stealing catalytic converters from vehicles.

Since April 1, at least eight catalytic converters have been reported stolen to police.

The latest report came just this morning when the emissions control system parts were stolen from two vehicles parked at the Kar-Kare Auto Center in the Lyn-Mar Plaza, Butler Township.

On Wednesday morning, someone cut the same device off a woman's vehicle parked at the Park and Ride at Routes 422 and 19 in Muddy Creek Township.

A day earlier, the catalytic converter was taken off a 2004 Jeep Cherokee parked at the Avada Building on North Main Street in Butler Township.

“There seems to have been a rise in these kinds of thefts, not just here but in Allegheny County, too,” said Butler Township police Lt. Matthew Pearson, whose department is now investigating four such crimes in consecutive weeks.

Last week, township police took a report that a converter was stolen from a Dodge Ram pickup at Pro Built Transmission in the Lyn-Mar Plaza. That theft occurred between March 27 and April 1.

Pearson said they have a “person of interest” in at least some of their cases but no solid suspect, yet.

Vehicle owners in Slippery Rock and Penn townships, meanwhile, have also recently been victimized by similar crimes.

On Monday night, an unknown thief apparently armed with a small electric saw cut the catalytic converter off a 1989 Chevrolet pickup truck at Denny Offstein Auto Sales on Hazel Avenue in Butler's Island neighborhood.

Offstein said he knew something was wrong with the truck the next morning when he started it up.

“I heard a loud noise,” he said. “Obviously there was a problem because I just had it inspected (April 2).”

He took it to his mechanic for a look and then got the word.

“He told me the catalytic converter was cut off,” Offstein said. “It was a clean cut so whoever took it had to have used a portable Sawzall, not a hack saw.”

A catalytic converter is an important part that is found in front of the vehicle's muffler. It reduces the amount of toxic chemicals released from the engine.

But it doesn't take much to steal one, police and mechanics say.

Depending on the make of the vehicle, a catalytic converter can be removed in less than two minutes with only a wrench or a saw.

A bigger obstacle for thieves is fitting under the vehicle.

“I thought that whoever stole it would had to have been thin to get underneath there to take it,” said Offstein, who is offering a $100 cash reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the thief.

Replacing a stolen catalytic converter isn't cheap A new one typically costs between $500 and $1,200 and the repair costs including labor could end up as high as $3,000.

The part is as costly as it is because of what's inside the converter — small bits of platinum.

Platinum sells on the market for more than $1,000 an ounce. The metal is used to coat an inside portion of the catalytic converter.

The anti-pollution devices also contain minute amounts of rhodium and palladium.

Rhodium, like platinum, is needed to make LCD and other TV and computer glass screen products. Palladium is used for air purification equipment.

Thieves can sell the devices to scrap yards or used parts dealers for about $100 to $150, according to data from Nationwide Insurance.

Pearson said that his department and other neighboring departments are sharing information to determine if any of the reported thefts in Butler and surrounding counties are related.

One of those departments, Ross Township police, on Thursday arrested a Mars man, 27-year-old Taylor Baldt, in connection with a string of stolen catalytic converters in Allegheny County's North Hills.

It was not immediately known if Baldt is a suspect in any of the thefts in Butler County.

Pearson, however, noted that Ross Township police contacted detectives in Butler Township following Baldt's arrest.

A telephone call to Ross Township police Detective Brian Kohlhepp was not returned Thursday.

Police departments in Butler County, meanwhile, have reached out to local scrap dealers to advise them of the recent rash of stolen converters. So has Offstein, who sees no end in sight to the plague of metal thefts.

“It all comes down to one thing,” he said, “m-o-n-e-y.”