Catalytic-Converter Thefts Rise and Fall With Metal Prices

St. Paul police logged 97 reported converter thefts in the first two months of 2026, up from 60 in the same period of 2025, while Minneapolis recorded 27 by the end of February, compared with 15 a year earlier. St. Paul Deputy Chief Kurt Hallstrom told CBS Minnesota the department does not yet have enough data to pinpoint a cause but pointed to the rising value of the metals inside the part. Rhodium, the most valuable of them, traded near $8,800 an ounce in early June 2026 after climbing through the winter.

The crime tracks those prices closely. A converter contains platinum, palladium and rhodium and can be sawed off in about a minute and sold for scrap, so reports rise when the metals spike and quiet when they fall. St. Paul's annual totals show the swing: 607 thefts in 2023, 172 in 2024, then 505 in 2025.

Two things had cooled the wave. A law Gov. Tim Walz signed in 2023, effective Aug. 1 that year, made it a crime to possess an unmarked detached converter and required the parts to be marked with the source vehicle's VIN and removal date, escalating from misdemeanor to felony with the number of converters. Falling metal prices did the rest. Hallstrom said the deterrent may now be fading: "The fear may have subsided for some, they're willing to take on the risk."

Pickups, SUVs and hybrids are the most common targets because their ground clearance lets a thief slide underneath and hybrid converters carry more metal. The first sign is usually a loud roar at startup and a repair bill that can run into four figures.

Officers recommend parking in a garage, adding motion-sensor lighting, and having a converter etched or fitted with a bolt-on shield, which makes it harder to remove and harder to fence. Report thefts through 311 or the 5th Precinct; a plate number, description or short video clip is often the single most useful piece of evidence an investigator gets.