An OCU student’s vehicle was recently targeted by thieves.
Julia Wood, music theater freshman, said she noticed something was wrong with her Honda vehicle the week after Easter.
“I realized it was making a weird noise,” Wood said. “I drove it to the Honda dealership and left it there overnight. The next day they called and told me that it was my catalytic converter and that it had been cut out of the bottom of my car.”
Wood said she was upset to learn the part had been stolen.
“I was very frustrated,” Wood said. “The catalytic converter actually has to do with how much pollution your car puts out, and I had the highest level catalytic converter that would have cost me $6000 to get replaced. I had to get a lower working one that puts more pollution into the air.”
Major Dexter Nelson, OCU police chief, said he first learned about the theft through an April 17 report.
“We were notified after a student came to report to us that a mechanic told her that her catalytic converter was cut off and that she thinks it was stolen,” Nelson said. “She was told she was the second student from our university to report a problem with their car and then it be determined the catalytic converter was cut off.”
Nelson said higher sitting vehicles are the typical targets of this kind of theft and tampering.
“This happens to trucks or SUV’s. It’s a little bit rare to see it happening to a car,” Nelson said. “With a truck or SUV you don’t need a jack to get under it to access the undercarriage of the vehicle.”
Nelson said thieves sell catalytic converters as scrap metal.
“They have platinum in them, which is a precious metal, so they steal them and take them to a scrap yard and sell them,” Nelson said.
Nelson said the part takes only a few minutes to steal.
“If you’re familiar with how to steal a catalytic converter, you can do so in less than five minutes,” Nelson said. “All it takes is a battery-operated saw, and you just cut it off. Anywhere a thief sees a lot of cars congregated and they think they have time, they’ll try it. Places you see this happening are gyms, movie theaters, sometimes a church and universities.”
Wood said her vehicle was parked in the Walker Hall parking lot.
“I was parked at the end of the Walker parking lot near Noble Drive right in front of Sarkeys,” Wood said. “The police officers gave me some new places to park. They said probably not Draper, because there’s not as many cameras there.”
Nelson said campus police officers are aware of the situation and ask students and faculty to alert them to any oddities on campus.
“They ride with their windows down and listen for unusual sounds,” Nelson said. “Our best defense is our students. If a student sees or hears something unusual, call us right away. We want you to call us.”
Students can contact the OCU police department through their emergency number, (405) 208-5911, or the non-emergency number, (405) 208-5001.
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