Catalytic Converter Crime Wave Recedes

A Gresham Police Department spokesman highlighted last year’s arrest of 32-year-old Uber driver Brennan Doyle.

CAT DAD: Adam Ofstad has battled catalytic converter thieves in St. Helens. (Michael Raines)
By Lucas Manfield

Following several high-profile busts and declining prices for the precious metals they contain, Oregon thefts of catalytic converters appear to be on the downswing.

The Portland Police Bureau does not break out statistics on catalytic converter theft, but Gresham does. That city saw 35 reported thefts between January and May this year—20% of the tally from the same period last year.

Prosecutions have dropped, too. No one’s been charged with illegally transporting metal in Oregon since Jan. 2, following major arrests of suspected traffickers in Jackson and Washington counties late last year.

Jarom Sweazey, a Gresham Police Department spokesman, highlighted last year’s arrest of 32-year-old Uber driver Brennan Doyle, who allegedly ran a trafficking ring from a lake house and shipped Portland’s catalytic converters to New Jersey refineries (“From Portland to Jersey,” WW, Nov. 30, 2022).

Another possible cause: The price of rhodium, one of the precious metals in the emission control devices, has returned to 2019 levels after skyrocketing 500% during the pandemic.

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