PENN TWP — A Mars man already suspected in a rash of catalytic converter thefts throughout northern Allegheny County was charged Tuesday with his first case in Butler County.

Penn Township police filed a pair of felony charges against 27-year-old Taylor M. Baldt, accusing him of stealing a catalytic converter from a van March 30 at the park and ride on Route 8.

The van-pooling service vRIDE owns the vehicle, police said.

Baldt admitted to stealing the auto part while being questioned by Ross Township police after they arrested him last month for similar thefts, Penn Township police said in charging documents.

Police estimated the loss at more than $2,000, which includes the replacement and repair costs.

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

Converters are often stolen and sold for scrap because the platinum and other rare metals used in the pollution control devices are valuable.

Authorities believe Baldt was scrapping the converters for money to pay for his heroin addiction, documents said.

Penn police charged him with felony counts of theft and criminal mischief.

The defendant faces numerous other charges, felonies and misdemeanors, in connection with cases filed by four departments in Allegheny County.

Court records showed Baldt is in Allegheny County Jail on $30,000 bail.

He was initially jailed after Ross Township police arrested him April 7, moments after he allegedly stole two catalytic converters from the park-and-ride lot on Perrysville Avenue

Earlier that day, police in nearby Ohio Township had alerted neighboring departments that they believed a white Ford pickup truck was involved in several catalytic converter thefts.

Baldt was driving a pickup matching that description when the Ross officers stopped him.

Ross police Detective Brian Kohlhepp said investigators consider Baldt a suspect in 30 to 50 thefts in the North Hills, and still others in Butler County.

Kohlhepp said the suspect acted alone, allegedly using a portable battery-powered saw to steal the converters, which he then sold for $50 to $75 apiece to different scrap dealers.

To date, Ross police and McCandless Township have each charged Baldt with five converters thefts. The Northern Regional Police Department has charged him with three thefts and Shaler Township police have charged him with two thefts. Authorities said he remains a suspect in other ongoing investigations in Allegheny and Butler counties, including four converter thefts in Butler Township.

Baldt is represented by a public defender for Allegheny County cases, court records showed. A message left at the Allegheny County Public Defender’s Office was not returned Tuesday.