HENRICO COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — A Henrico County nonprofit is asking for help finding three theft suspects after two catalytic converters were stolen from them in an incident which was captured by a security camera.
According to the Henrico County Division of Police, the theft took place at around 1 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 10. Three people can be seen driving into the the Tech for Troops parking lot, and going back and forth between their SUV and a can, trying to strip it for parts.
With little success, the three leave the area before coming back and taking two catalytic converters off the van. The group then took off in their SUV, which is believed to be a red or maroon Nissan Pathfinder from the late 1990’s or early 2000’s.
Mark Casper, the president of Tech for Troops, said his team knew what had happened as soon as they turned the can on the next day.
“We started the van up and heard this horrendous noise and shut it off immediately,” said Casper. “And we knew right then what had happened.”
Casper told 8News the van being rendered inoperable was devastating for him and his nonprofit.
“To have that happen, it took the wind out of our sails,” said Casper. “We had to slow down, to close, to stop what we were doing. Because we couldn’t make pickups, we couldn’t make deliveries, we had to use our personal belongings for everything.”
According to Henrico Police, there have been 187 catalytic converter thefts in the county so far this year, a huge decrease from 530 during 2022. Although the frequency of catalytic converter thefts is down, the impact is still the same for victims.
“The hope is that we get our van back soon,” said Casper.
Anyone with information related to this incident is asked to call Henrico Police at 804-501-5000.
