Police say thieves have found a way around a new Connecticut law intended to curb catalytic converter thefts, which continue to soar statewide.

Carrying power saws for quick surgery on cars, buses and trucks, catalytic converter thieves have been running rampant in Connecticut this year.

Police say thefts of the exhaust system components continue in the face of a new law, effective July 1, that prohibits scrap dealers in Connecticut from receiving detached converters and requires detailed paperwork on all sales. Police in several departments also say the recent federal investigation of an East Hartford-based “cat” theft ring shows that crooks can easily skirt the new law.

Statistics from a sampling of police departments show unabated thefts of converters from parking lots, home driveways, school bus companies and other businesses.

In Manchester, police responses to reports of converter thefts are up 56 percent this year compared with the same period last year — 150 responses through Aug. 24 and 96 in the same period last year.

Danbury police have received 145 calls for service with 213 converters stolen this year, compared with 56 calls last year and 129 converters stolen.

Windsor Locks police responded to 61 converter thefts in all of last year compared with 68 so far this year.

Norwalk police reported 34 thefts last year and 116 in the first half of this year.

Darien police reported eight thefts in all of last year and 22 so far this year.

Under state law that took effect July 1, a person can only sell one catalytic converter per day to a scrap metal dealer. Dealers can only pay by check and must submit information on converter sales to state police weekly.

“The easy ability to sell stolen parts is a major reason why motor vehicle theft and vandalism occurs,” Gov. Ned Lamont said when he signed the measure into law in May, “and this law will help serve as a deterrent.”

But Detective Sgt. Jeff Lampson, a veteran officer in hard-hit Windsor Locks, scoffed at the notion that the state law will have any bite.

“Why are they putting the onus on dealers when these suspects are circumventing the scrap metal dealers?” Lampson said. “It’s all optics — there’s no meaningful effect.”

In Windsor Locks, which sits between Hartford and Springfield along Interstate-91, catalytic converter thefts happen just about every week. On Aug. 20, an employee at the Blackboard Cafe, called police to report the sound of metal being cut. Responding officers saw a dark-colored Dodge with the wrong license plates and tried to stop it, but the driver sped away and police did not pursue due to a statewide policy that prohibits chases if the only suspected crime is larceny.

Police found at least four catalytic converters had been stolen from businesses in the area. Three days earlier, four converters were reported stolen from Long View RV Superstores, police said.

Southington police spokesperson Lt. Keith Egan said Fcatalytic converter thefts in his town — 214 calls for service in the past 365 days — are up and continuing unabated, “proof positive,” he said, that the new state law has little effect.

“More needs to be done outside our jurisdiction and outside the state of Connecticut,” Manchester police spokesperson Lt. Ryan Shea said. “There’s a very multi-layered approach to addressing this issue.”

State Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney, D-New Haven, said the bipartisan legislation was only recently passed and should be given time.

“Statistics from the first six months of 2022 don’t reflect our new law,” Looney said. “We need to give police departments and auto parts recyclers time to document the positive effects of this new legislation, which makes it almost impossible for catalytic converter thieves to sell their stolen goods in Connecticut.”

Connecticut police officers, however, pointed to a recent federal indictment of a ring that cashed in stolen converters at out-of-state junk yards. Alexander Kolitsas, 28, owner of an East Hartford warehouse, pleaded not guilty last week after he was charged with trafficking and reselling stolen catalytic converters to recycling businesses in other states.

A federal grand jury in New Haven returned a nine-count indictment on Aug. 16, charging Kolitsas, Bryant Bermudez, 31, of East Hartford, Roberto Alicea, 30, of New Britain. Francisco Ayala, 22, of Ansonia, and Theodore Roosevelt Owens, 21, of Hartford, with participating in the scheme, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.

The indictment says ring members sold catalytic converters to recycling businesses in New York and New Jersey. Kolitsas’s business, Downpipe Depot, received more than $237,000 via wire transfer shortly after he transported a load of converters, including some stolen, to Freehold, N.J. in October 2021, federal authorities said. Kolitsas transported converters twice again in March to Island Park, N.Y. and sold them for about $300,000 in cash, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office. Federal authorities said thieves can get between $300 to $1,500 for each converter, depending on the model and type of precious metal component.

U.S. Attorney Vanessa Roberts Avery said catalytic converter thefts are more than just a nuisance property crime.

“They increase insurance rates for all car owners and increase pollution in the air we breathe,” Avery said. “We have also seen a rise in violence connected to catalytic converter theft incidents. This criminal activity would not exist but for the salvagers and metal processors who orchestrate these thefts and purchase the stolen converters.”

James Ferguson, special agent in charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said the thefts often fund larger, more violent criminal enterprises.

Police have formed regional task forces focused on car crimes. An investigation by Manchester Officer Jonathan Sargolini, who serves with the Greater Hartford Regional Auto Theft Task Force, led to the recent arrest of Tajay Hunter, 22, of Hartford, on four outstanding Manchester warrants.

Hunter faces charges for allegedly stealing catalytic converters and burglarizing vehicles in the last five months, according to police. He also is accused of similar crimes in East Hartford, Glastonbury and Rocky Hill, according to police, and was being held on a combined $500,000 bond.

A warrant for his arrest says Hunter had a Facebook Marketplace page where he sold vehicles he had used to drive around the state and steal catalytic converters, guns and other items from vehicles. Police also found numerous photos of sawed-off converters on Hunter’s cellphone, according to the warrant.

Catalytic converter thefts are lucrative because values of the metals inside the pollution-scrubbing devices have soared. Platinum was going last week for $879 an ounce, palladium was at $2,083 an ounce and rhodium was valued at $12,500 an ounce, according to market reports. The rare earth metals are mined in Russia and South Africa primarily, and costs have skyrocketed due to supply chain issues and the war in Ukraine, National Insurance Crime Bureau CEO David Glawe told PBS NewsHour recently.

“These are financial crimes and crime is a business and business is very good,” Glawe said.

Individual victims of converter theft, who often are alerted that the component is missing by the roaring sound of crippled exhaust systems, typically pay at least a $500 insurance deductible for replacement, but those with older, high mileage cars and trucks who lack the necessary coverage sometimes must choose between junking the vehicle and repairs that can easily rise above $1,000. Some vehicles, such as Toyota Priuses, are prized targets because they emit fewer toxins, so the converters are cleaner and more valuable.

The thefts also are prompting confrontations between thieves, police and victimized vehicle owners. A Milford man needed 300 stitches after a catalytic converter thief slashed his face with a motorized grinder in June. A Farmington police officer has faced a long, painful recovery after he was crushed between his cruiser and a car being driven by a fleeing converter thief last year, police have said.

House Majority Leader Jason Rojas, a Democrat who represents Manchester and East Hartford, said the continuing thefts “are frustrating for every one.” Rojas also noted that it’s a hard crime to police because the thefts happen quickly and often at night.

Like Looney, he referred to the new state law and said, “I think it will take some time for us to see the impact of that law.” But Rojas added that the legislature may have to consider additional measures to curb converter thefts.

Staff writer Peter Yankowski contributed to this story.