More than 600 catalytic converters recovered in bust, Cook County Sheriff Dart says; 1 charged

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart announced Thursday that more than 600 catalytic converters were recovered by sheriff's police in a bust.

Sheriff Dart said that the catalytic converters were in the process of being re-sold. Ramy Sandoka is now facing felony charges.

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Dart said this is perhaps the biggest bust of stolen catalytic converters in the country.

Officers found catalytic converters of all shapes and sizes in Sandoka's backyard.

"Unbelievable. It was constant. For about an hour and 15 minutes, hour and a half, just constantly taking out what I now know were catalytic converters," said neighbor Cliff Turner.

Turner said Sandoka, who owns a tow company, normally has several tow trucks parked outside his home, but Turner never suspected anything illegal was going on.

The catalytic converter thefts take only 40 to 50 seconds per car, Dart said.

"In doing that then, they then have entire networks that they work with and these networks are pretty sophisticated to be frank with you where they take them to people they call aggregators who accumulate all of these, then they take them to people who take them apart themselves, melt them down and then sell them and that's where it re-enters the market and that is why it is so very difficult to get at this at times," he said.

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The problem worsened during the pandemic. State Farm data shows thefts have increased 400% nationwide since 2019. Illinois ranks third highest in the country for this type of crime.

Dart said the minerals in catalytic converters, including rhodium, platinum and palladium can be worth thousands of dollars.

"Depending on the car, you'd be talking thousands of dollars of repair that may or may not be claimed through insurance. So the fact that they are going after these guys and catching at least some of them is obviously a step in the right direction," said Matt Tefka, owner of Fulton-Des Plaines Garage

Dart said there are some things you can do to deter thieves like parking in a garage or a well-lit area with cameras around.