By LESLIE EIKLEBERRY
Salina Post
A brazen thief was caught on surveillance video stealing a catalytic converter from a vehicle in a south Salina parking lot Tuesday afternoon.
Salina Police Captain Paul Forrester said this morning that a 35-year-old Salina man reported that his daughter had driven his 2005 Ford Excursion to work at Lowe's, 3035 S. Ninth Street, and parked it in the west part of the parking lot at approximately 2 p.m. Tuesday. When she took a break at approximately 6 p.m., she noticed the SUV was making funny noises and called her father, who arrived a short time later and discovered that the catalytic converter was missing from the vehicle.
Surveillance video from Lowe's shows an older model Chevrolet Trailblazer, possibly gold in color, parked next to the SUV at 4:20 p.m., Forrester said. The Trailblazer left and then returned a short time later. A person in a white t-shirt was seen around the two vehicles. The Trailblazer left after approximately eight minutes.
Total loss was estimated at $2,000, Forrester said.
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In a legal opinion on May 26, 2021, Kansas Attorney General noted that "Catalytic converters are covered by the Scrap Metal Theft Reduction Act, so transactions involving their purchase by scrap metal dealers are regulated and must be reported to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation database."