March 17--STOCKTON -- The San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office partnered with two Les Schwab Tire Centers on Saturday to provide a service aimed at stopping a recent rash of catalytic converter thefts.
Sheriff's deputies registered car owners for free catalytic converter engravings at Les Schwab stores on West Charter Way in Stockton and West Yosemite Avenue in Manteca. Les Schwab employees performed the engravings, hoisting cars into the air on mechanical lifts and etching the vehicle's license plate number onto the catalytic converter.
"In our community, you're hearing more often about people crawling under vehicles and hacksawing catalytic converters off and selling them," said Mike Golden, an assistant manager at the Les Schwab Tire Center on West Charter Way. "You hear it in the news every day, and until now there wasn't much you could do to prevent it. This (service) gives everybody a little security and a little peace of mind."
Golden said his service technicians performed about 20 engravings, each of which took three to five minutes to complete. A representative of the Les Schwab Tire Center in Manteca said his store performed more than 50 engravings.
According to the Stockton Police Department, there has been a major increase in catalytic converter thefts in Stockton in recent months. Targeted vehicles have included Toyota and Dodge trucks and sport utility vehicles that sit high off the ground, authorities said.
In January, four Stockton men were arrested in Rocklin after being caught trying to remove the catalytic converter from a vehicle at a movie theater. Officers said they found burglary tools and a dozen catalytic converters in the vehicle the men were driving.
Benjamin Rodriguez, 32; Lee Nelson, 21; Brandon Brockl, 21; and Rhota Vin, 23, were arrested on suspicion of felony theft and conspiracy, authorities said.
Officer Joe Silva, a spokesman for the Stockton Police Department, said investigators have not yet determined whether the four men were responsible for catalytic converter thefts in Stockton.
Contact reporter Jason Anderson at (209) 546-8279 or [email protected]. Visit his blog at recordnet.com/crimeblog.
Copyright 2013 - The Record, Stockton, Calif.
