Thieves see lots of loot at Metra train stations

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Wanted:
catalytic
converters

Nancy Hodges thought something was wrong with her muffler when she started to pull out of her space in the Hickory Creek Metra station parking lot just north of 191st Street and Hickory Creek Drive in Mokena on June 6.

“I couldn’t believe my muffler had blown a hole while I was at work,” she said.

It hadn’t. Her 2007 Toyota SUV was missing its catalytic converter, making it one of five vehicles targeted in the lot that day.

About a week later, catalytic converters were stolen off five vehicles within two days at the Metra lot at 174th and Wood streets in East Hazel Crest, according to police reports, but a witness alerted police to a suspicious person in the lot.

East Hazel Crest police found the suspect, noticed a battery-powered saw in the back seat of his car and asked to look in the trunk, where they found four catalytic converters. One was still “very hot,” according to police.

Donzel Jenkins, 18, of Homewood, and his girlfriend, Shonta Jones, 21, of Sauk Village, were charged with felony criminal damage to property, police said.

But such arrests are rare, police said. With small, battery-powered saws, thieves crawl under SUVs, saw the part off and are gone in 60 seconds.

Replacing a catalytic converter can cost as much as $1,000, depending on the damage to the rest of the exhaust system.

Why are they targeted? Precious metals such as platinum, rhodium and palladium are in the converters. According to the Platinum Today website, the average price for platinum in the last 30 days was $1,737 per Troy ounce, $2,004 for rhodium and $764 for palladium.

“They are not taking them because they need them,” Oak Lawn Police Division Chief Mike Kaufmann said. “They cut them off and sell them at scrap yards throughout Chicago. Some are unscrupulous and will buy them from anyone.”

State Rep. Edward Acevedo (D-Chicago) hopes to regulate the operations of scrap yards and has proposed House Bill 2912, which would require scrap processors to maintain records — including proof of ownership and vehicle identification numbers — when people dispose of vehicles and parts.

One scrap dealer said it could be a “good idea” but also “complicated.”

“It’s easy to keep track of whole cars, but it’s not easy to keep track of parts,” said Adrian Cardoso, of A Metals Scrap Inc., at 93rd Street and Baltimore Avenue on Chicago’s South Side. “Once the parts are off the cars, it gets complicated. You will not be able to identify which part came from which car.”

He fears “people will not want to work for me if I require information,” he said.

Other scrap dealers declined to comment on the proposed law.

Illinois State Police have assisted local police agencies in some of these investigations and are trying to determine exactly where thieves are selling these auto parts, Master Sgt. Isaiah Vega said. The catalytic converters may bring $50 to $100 to the thief, he said.

The average person can’t extract the metals, which is typically done by a metal refiner.

Catalytic converters on the high-end SUVs are larger and contain more precious metals, plus they are easier to crawl under than the average car, police said.

“Unless the area has 24-hour surveillance, it’s hard to prevent these thefts,” Vega said.

One might consider an anti-theft device called a Cat Clamp, which provides a protective cage around the catalytic converter and costs from $150 to $320, according to catclamp.com.

Article Extras

Updated: October 30, 2011 12:46AM

A two-karat diamond engagement ring, a Movado watch, a Tiffany bracelet.

Gone without a trace.

A Ford F-250 pickup, a 2003 Toyota Sienna, a 2009 Toyota Camry.

Stolen.

Laptops, printers, custom-made guitars ... the list goes on.

Southlanders who park in Metra commuter lots, beware. All of those items and vehicles — and more —were stolen from area lots in the past 18 months, according to police reports obtained by the SouthtownStar. And many of the police reports, collected from more than a dozen towns, also have these comments: “no witnesses,” “no leads,” “no suspects.”

Some lots are more susceptible to thievery than others. Some towns have multiple lots for police to patrol, some lots have no surveillance cameras. And then there’s Oak Lawn, which has a six-story parking deck, only one entrance, surveillance cameras that are on 24 hours a day ... and no crime.

Records show the most popular item among thieves at commuter lots, oddly, isn’t among the aforementioned list of valuables. It’s catalytic converters.

A thief with a battery-powered saw spends a few seconds underneath an SUV, and it’s gone. Six of them were stolen Wednesday from the Oak Forest Metra station. The converters, which help control a vehicle’s emissions, contain precious metals and can easily be sold to recycling centers and scrap yards for a quick $100, police said.

Despite the numerous incidents, police say the commuter lots are safe. There have been no robberies, assaults or violent crimes at the lots in the past 18 months, according to police reports.

The scariest event was at 9:30 p.m. on Memorial Day. Flossmoor police arrested a 45-year-old Chicago man who chased two girls from the tunnel at the train station to the parking lot, where one girl’s grandfather was waiting to pick them up. He confronted and scared off the culprit as he tried to grab one of the girls.

And even though the Matteson Metra lot had the most burglaries reported, Deputy Police Chief Ken Arvin said “it’s very safe” from a personal safety standpoint.

Plow plucked

The snow already was blowing and swirling Feb. 1 when Ron Dietrich stepped off the Metra train at Mokena’s Hickory Creek station. He had fueled up his Ford pickup, which has a plow, the night before in anticipation of helping people through the blizzard that already was well on its way.

“This was going to be great,” he recalled thinking. “I would have no problems getting home. I’d be the hero for all my relatives.”

Instead, Dietrich was a victim. When he got to his space in the spacious Metra parking lot, it was empty. Did the truck get towed because he forgot to pay his $1 parking fee? Was his wife playing a practical joke?

No, his 2004 Ford F-250 —
with a supercab, 9-foot plow and salt spreader — had been
stolen, even though he said it was locked.

“It took me by surprise, especially being in Mokena,” said Dietrich, who said he’s been using the lot near 191st Street and Hickory Creek Drive for at least 10 years and had never had a problem.

Despite having his truck stolen, Dietrich said he feels safe and continues to park in Mokena. He’s convinced someone stole it for their own use during the blizzard. It was never found.

It could happen anywhere

Vehicle thefts at Metra lots actually have been rare in the past 18 months, other than in Matteson, where police reported four stolen vehicles. Three were recovered but had been damaged.

Police also say that whether it is catalytic converters, expensive jewelry or guitars being stolen, such thefts could take place wherever there are numerous vehicles parked: apartment complexes, shopping centers, auto dealerships, hospital lots.

For the most part, thieves are looking for a quick opportunity to “smash and grab,” Arvin said.

Over the years, police have seen hood ornaments, air bags and GPS units stolen from vehicles. And wallets, loose change, cigarettes, gym clothes, even Pop-Tarts ...

They break windows, take advantage of unlocked doors or steal auto parts outside the vehicles such as spare tires, lug nuts, wheel covers and catalytic converters.

One Palos Park commuter was driving home on a January evening when one of her tires fell off, according to a police report. She didn’t realize the lug nuts had been removed from both front tires.

A Tinley Park commuter saw a suspicious man jimmying the lock on his vehicle and used his entry fob to activate its alarm and scare him off.

But encountering a crime in progress doesn’t happen every day. Nevertheless, thanks to a tip from a commuter last month, East Hazel Crest police were able to find and arrest two people who had four stolen catalytic converters in their car trunk.

“Catalytic converter thefts are obviously giving us some difficulty,” New Lenox Deputy Police Chief Bob Pawlisz said.

“We’ve been hit several times this year,” Oak Forest Chief Greg Anderson said.

Both said they are working with other departments and taking extra measures to thwart such crimes.

Anderson said he even eats lunch at the Oak Forest lot.

“I like to catch a bad guy, too,” he said.

Who’s watching the lots?

Local police are responsible for collecting the parking fees and patroling the Metra commuter lots in their towns, and all said they do so regularly.

Jennifer Asante questions that. The vehicle used by her husband, Samuel, has been broken into three times — twice in Matteson and once in Olympia Fields.

Every time, the culprits broke the window on their 1999 Chrysler and took a CD player. Sometimes the dashboard or steering column was damaged. It always was on a Sunday night, when her husband was on his way home from work.

“We don’t go there anymore,” Asante said of those two parking lots. “It’s just a matter of going where you feel safe.”

They now use the Richton Park lot.

“I always see police there,” Asante said. “Perpetrators will not go where police are.”

The police reports, obtained by the SouthtownStar through the Freedom of Information Act, bear that out.

The safest commuter parking lots are in Oak Lawn, Worth, Homewood and Orland Park.

Oak Lawn, which reported no crime in its six-story parking deck, is monitored by surveillance cameras 24 hours a day and has only one entrance.

“But that doesn’t mean it can’t happen,” Division Chief Mike Kaufmann said.

Meanwhile, lots in Homewood and Worth are adjacent to the police stations.

And despite having three busy lots, Orland Park reported only two incidents. One lot has a video camera, but all are “regularly patrolled, well lit and highly traveled,” police Cmdr. John Keating said.

Chicago Ridge police reported only one vehicle burglary — a pair of sunglasses was stolen after a car window was broken. But they have other problems. The Metra station at 103rd Street and Ridgeland Avenue often is targeted by kids who have been seen on surveillance tapes throwing rocks or shooting paintballs at the doors and windows of vehicles, often breaking them, according to reports.

Hardest hit

The towns reporting the most incidents of crime at commuter lots were Matteson, Mokena and Tinley Park.

The Matteson lot is in a residential area but not necessarily a high-crime area, Arvin said. He’s added patrols by police on bicycles and in unmarked cars but concedes there is no round-the-clock security.

Mokena and Tinley Park have two stations each in their towns, one in the downtown and another in a large, open and somewhat isolated area — which is where most of these crimes occur.

The lots in Mokena are “highly safe,” Mokena police Cmdr. Dan Rankovich said. “It’s fine considering how many cars are out there. It doesn’t happen on a regular basis. It’s random. It’s sporadic.”

Lots won’t be touched by thieves for weeks, then they will steal several spare tires or break several windows in a single day.

“Many times, there’s no pattern, no rhyme nor reason,” Rankovich said.

On separate occasions, Mokena police have arrested an 18-year-old man and a 68-year-old man after they were found walking through the smaller downtown lots, looking for unlocked vehicles and items to steal.

Mokena plans to install video cameras later this summer at its busy Hickory Creek lot.

Cameras can be a deterrent but also can give a “false sense of security,” Pawlisz said.

“Just because there is a camera doesn’t mean you get a license plate or a good description,” he said. “There is no guarantee it will be in the right position to gather enough evidence to be beneficial.”

East Hazel Crest Chief Ray Robertson concurred.

“It’s hard to tell if cameras have made a difference,” he said.

The camera in East Hazel Crest’s 1,100-space lot at 174th and Wood Street caught one person walking from the train and pulling a grill off the front of a truck.

“There’s a lot happening in front of people, and no one calls,” Robertson said.

Police count on calls from the public to report suspicious behavior.

“That is exactly what we hope for,” Metra spokeswoman Judy Pardonnet said. “If you have a gut feeling, if you see anyone suspicious — call police.”

She said Metra pays particular attention to lighting at its lots, and encourages commuters to pay attention to their surroundings, especially during off-peak hours.

Most are “crimes of opportunity,” Keating said. “People are rushing to the train and forget to lock the doors.”

Commuters also leave valuables in plain view.

Oak Lawn’s Kaufmann recommends drivers get car alarms with a hair trigger — one that goes off with the slightest vibration.

“Unfortunately, with this economy, people will take whatever they can,” he said. “There’s a market for everything.”