Four arrested in catalytic converter thefts in Petaluma

Petaluma police recovered two stolen catalytic converters and arrested four people in connection with stealing them early Monday morning — the latest in a raft of local thefts and arrests connected to the exhaust devices targeted by thieves.

A resident who noticed the sound of a saw being operated outside of his home on Mountain View Avenue alerted police around 1:15 a.m. that he thought someone stealing the catalytic converter from his car, police said. He stayed on the phone long enough to provide a description of the suspects.

When officers arrived in the neighborhood, they found a car driving slowly nearby and initiated a traffic stop, police said. While talking to the driver, officers observed a floor jack and other power tools commonly used in catalytic converter thefts in the car, and moved to conduct a search of the vehicle.

They found two catalytic converters in the trunk. Later, officers asked the man who had reported the theft to come and see if either matched his car. He did so, and identified one of the catalytic converters as stolen from his vehicle.

Police arrested all four occupants of the car on suspicion of stealing the catalytic converters. Jose Garcia, age 35, and Jose Ramirez, 32, of Richmond, were booked at the Sonoma County Jail and released.

The other two occupants, Claudia Rivas, 28, of Santa Rosa and Juan Pineda, 42, of Oakland, were also arrested on suspicion of methamphetamine possession. Pineda also had an outstanding arrest warrant out of Marin County for possession of stolen property, Petaluma police said.

The second recovered catalytic converter appears to belong to a Prius, though officers had not located its owner as of Monday afternoon, Petaluma Police Lt. Tim Lyons said.

The predawn arrests come as regional law enforcement agencies and others throughout the U.S. report spikes in catalytic converter thefts.

Petaluma officers learned of 69 catalytic converters thefts within the city limits between Jan. 1 and Feb. 13, Lyons said. By comparison, the department had recorded only nine such theft reports during the same period in 2020, Lyons said.

In Santa Rosa, nearly 100 catalytic converters were ripped from the underside of vehicles between Nov. 1 and early January, the department said.

“It’s becoming a lot more popular,” Lyons said of the crime trend. “We’re making the public more aware of it.”

Catalytic converters are designed to filter out toxic pollutants in vehicle exhaust gas and contain small amounts of valuable metals that thieves can sell for cash.

Replacing the stolen equipment, which can be swiped from vehicles in a matter of minutes using mechanical tools, can cost victims thousands of dollars.

Local catalytic converter thieves typically travel in groups throughout the Bay Area and strike after dark, Lyons said.

The Petaluma Police Department and other Sonoma County agencies are communicating with each other about the rise catalytic converter thefts to see if they can stamp out the trend locally, Lyons added.

“We’re trying to figure out, ’Well, where is this stuff going?’ ... and trying to see if w can do something on that end,” Lyons said. “A couple of people we’ve arrested say they go to the East Bay, Oakland, or San Leandro to scrap metal places and bring the (converter) devices there.”

Anyone who has information related to Monday’s case or who has had their catalytic converter stolen is asked to call 707-778-4372.

You can reach Staff Writer Nashelly Chavez at 707-521-5203 or nashelly.chavez@pressdemocrat.com and Staff Writer Kaylee Tornay at 707-521-5250 or kaylee.tornay@pressdemocrat.com.