Rash Of Overnight Catalytic Converter Thefts Reported In Teaneck: Cops

TEANECK, NJ — Investigators with the Teaneck Police Department are asking for the public's help in identifying and locating a suspect(s) in a rash of overnight catalytic converter thefts.

From just after 3 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday, a total of 12 thefts were reported out of Teaneck, police Chief Andrew McGurr said.

It all started with a report at about 3:20 a.m. of a Wyndham Road resident hearing the sound of a saw being used outside and seeing a vehicle leave the area west on Wyndham, McGurr said.

Officers determined that a catalytic converter — an expensive, antipollution vehicle part — was just cut out of a car, the police chief said.

About 15 minutes later, officers responded to a Suffern Road address for another catalytic converter theft. The caller described the suspect vehicle as a dark-colored SUV that left the area west toward River Road, police said.

As the morning continued, 10 more catalytic converter thefts were reported to the police department. As of 2 p.m., thefts were reported at the River Road parking lot; off of Taft, Churchill, Edgewood, Beverly, Winthrop and Briarcliff Roads; and off of Cornwall, Ester and Ogden Avenues.

A resident reported seeing, during the Ogden Avenue theft at around 3 a.m., the suspects drive off in a "newer-style" blue (Lincoln) Town Car, police said.

The vehicles targeted, with the model years listed, are as follows:

• Honda Pilot (2003)
• Five Honda Accords (2003, 2005, 2006, 2006, 2007)
• Four Honda CRVs (all 2006)
• Honda Odyssey (2000)
• Mitsubishi Outlander (2002)

As police investigate, Chief McGurr reminds residents to contact police if they hear power tools at night or see suspicious vehicles or people in the road who may be involved in these types of thefts.

Additionally, he said, vehicles should be parked in garages or on private property in well-lit areas, when possible. Motion detection sensors, security cameras and alarms also can be effective deterrents, and there are anti-theft devices on the market that can help keep cars safe.

McGurr also asks that residents check video surveillance on or around their properties that may have captured the thefts or the actors' vehicles.