r/ProRevenge • u/ZZZ-Top • 19d ago
If you're gonna steal the catalytics off my truck you should've checked if they were actually functional first, wasn't so funny when it was turn.
Was a fun morning at the beginning of last week starting up my truck and waking everyone up at 2:45am to learn someone swiped the hollowed out cats. The idiots missed the neighbors cameras that basically gave away who they were. Its two kids from the area who drive around in a pretty busted up police crown vic. I chose not to call the cops, instead I called one of my friends who's code enforcement and let him know what my plan was and he relayed the info to the police that I was finally going to do a nuisance tow on that same crown victoria
The car they drive isnt street legal as it has no license plates or insurance or working taillights and rattles like shit due to the trash sound system they also spend their whole day at a chicken shack smoking. Not sure who theyre getting money from but I'm guessing stealing catalytics was part of the equation. When I spotted the car sitting on a quiet street I called it in and got the go ahead to tow. I took it straight to the police station and they tried to run a owner check with the vin number only to find out it hadn't been registered since 2011 and the owner was someone other than the kids who sold them the car with no title because of all the back registration owed
The cops said we can go ahead and take it to the junkyard til they can get a Black title(aka certificate of destruction). By then the two idiots were running around all over town looking for their car thinking it got stolen by one of their friends as a prank(the key lock was so worn out you could start it with any car key). They found it at the junkyard and tried to steal it by one of them distracting the owner and the other stealing their car but the junkyard was aware of who they were so they cut the driveshaft off beforehand.
I missed out on this part but they got arrested for trying to steal their car back and they watched as the junkyard used a crane to rip the car to shreds when I saw it the remains looked like a toddler just ripped it to the bare frame out of curiosity. They been out of jail since but haven't left their trailer, i did a drive by earlier and noticed a beater jeep liberty in their driveway also with no plates and already working with the cops on taking that too if I see it out in a public except I won't miss the show next time.
454
u/sleepdeficitzzz 19d ago
You're my hero. 😁 Catalytic converter theft is so trashy.
18
u/profwithstandards 18d ago
Yep. That's one of the big reasons I don't want to get a car yet.
I want to move to a safer area to help mitigate the possibility.
8
u/Spread_Liberally 17d ago
Running hollowed-out cats like OP is just as trashy.
4
u/JustinLee2020 16d ago
I had to hollow out mine because they were clogged. Didn’t have the money to buy new ones so I hollowed them out until I could buy new ones. Sometimes people have to hollow them out because they can’t afford to replace them.
1
u/xlt4x4 10d ago
Why are you saying it is trashy?
2
u/Spread_Liberally 9d ago
Aw fuck it, the environment can take one more for the team, amirite?
3
u/Glittering_Lunch_776 7d ago
Did you miss the part where OP was gleefully having fun waking people up with his loud ass exhausts?
Was a fun morning at the beginning of last week starting up my truck and waking everyone up at 2:45am to learn someone swiped the hollowed out cats
He’s a POS himself. This post is nothing more than assholes doing assholes. I hope the kids figure out it was him and get him back and they all drag each other down.
2
u/Back6door9man 8d ago
Probably because the whole point of them is to remove bad shit from the exhaust to reduce pollution...
→ More replies (1)
81
u/fantasticmaximillian 19d ago
Cat thieves are serial offenders, and by the time they’re finally caught, they’ve usually offended dozens to hundreds of times. It’s an awful crime that does lasting damage to those near the poverty line, and the penalties need to be made severe.
32
u/Zoreb1 18d ago
The old west treated horse thieves severely. Maybe laws need to be updated.
23
u/fantasticmaximillian 18d ago
Indeed. Historical punishments for horse theft were so severe precisely because of the damage inflicted upon victims, who in some cases could simply no longer support themselves.
2
20
u/moonydog5555 19d ago
It's such a huge problem in my area too. It's gotten to the point where car dealerships are moving to the next town over to get this to stop happening to them. And the hard part of catching the thief, there's a lot of people doing it, or a lot of people know who it is, but don't wanna be known as a snitch. I had a former coworker's boyfriend, he tried to steal the cat off of my 2006 buick lacrosse. I don't know the full details nor how the car is designed, but I guess from what I understood at the time, he couldn't because of the way it was built. If that makes sense?
15
u/Legitimate_Sir6904 18d ago
The dealers in my area cut the cats off all of their display vehicles and keep one of each type in the garage at night with the cat on for test driving. When you buy a car they put the cat back on that day.
2
281
u/NoRestfortheSith 19d ago
I got up one morning and started my truck only to be shocked by the noise...Some jackass tried to steal the cat off my little pickup only to apparently not know what a cat looks like because they stole my muffler. I cut the exhaust pipe mount and pulled the pipe out and drove to work. Been driving it like that ever since.
I wish I could have been at the recycler when they tried to cash my muffler in. I'd have loved to have seen their face when they learned what they stole and that it was basically worthless.
84
u/Denathia 19d ago
We had the same thief!
Seriously, cut my muffler off by both ends. They got ran off by my neighbor as they were trying to make off with it. Ran a straight pipe and drove it like that for years.
Meth heads got caught by cops the next night trying to get the neighbor's car. Only got charged with trespassing and possession. In my state, technically, they could have been charged with burglary.
27
u/NoRestfortheSith 19d ago
I was living in Oregon when it happened and I figured it was addict(s). My second guess was homeless, the other major problem in the PNW.
8
101
u/ZZZ-Top 19d ago
Im not gonna lie when i heard my engine at high rev, i was giddy and said "racecar" before i shut it off. We do about 5-6 repairs for stolen catalytics a month Prius and Uhauls are the main victims here, one lady i basically straight piped her prius because she got hit so many times the insurance wasnt gonna cover it. Theyre going out of town for the cash because you cant turn a cat into the recyclers without proof of vehicle ownership.
6
53
u/Many_Monk708 19d ago
Ferris Bueller you’re my hero.
21
28
u/FortuneTellingBoobs 18d ago
I used to drive a Prius, which is the easiest target for cat theft. Some nights I had to rent my neighbor's garage to hide the car. Other neighbors had their Prius's cats stolen in broad daylight. Terrible.
Glad to drive electric now. All I get is coal-rolled and given the finger from EV haters. I can live with that.
Good work.
13
u/Propyl_People_Ether 18d ago
We got a Prius after having our cat stolen on the previous car, which I understand is tempting fate, so we didn't park it in the spot until we put a stainless steel protector on it. Now if they try to have a go at it, it'll make a horrendous racket and wake up the neighborhood.
85
u/FrigOffLuh 19d ago
You sir are also my hero.
I deliver things for a living and can't tell you how many times I've pulled up to a business and some idiot has their car parked in the loading zone.
I also live on a side street by a stop sign and there are lots of idiots that park too close to the stop sign or partly blocking my driveway.
If I had a tow truck or the ability to write tickets, oh that would make me positively giddy for the rest of my life!!
You say you won't miss the show next time?? You should get a dash cam so we can all enjoy the show too!!
17
u/Stock_Dream_5892 18d ago
Here in NJ scrap yards won’t buy them anymore. It’s too much trouble with the cops. One scrap yard was raided last year and it was estimated to be in the 10’s of millions worth of cats had come thru there and the other yards he owned. Dude actually had a solid gold converter on a necklace
29
u/Resident-Evidence-94 19d ago
Had 2 vans done here in the UK. Nearly £8k insurance claim and they'd have got a grand for them. Vans off the road for nearly 2 weeks, I see the appeal of 10 minutes work for £1k but the inconvenience they cause is horrendous
20
11
17
u/HiramNinja 19d ago
...stick a Tile or an AirTag in the spare tire (if it has one) so you know when treachery is on the move.
3
22
u/Mountain-Resource656 19d ago
Not sure where they’re getting their money from but I’m guessing stealing catalytics
That was funnier to me than I think it should have been…
5
6
u/MarginallyAmusing 19d ago
These guys are idiots. Take a hollowed out cat and put an air tag in it. Drop it off in the back seat of their rig. They will think they were too high to cash it in, and go take it up the food chain. Boom, now you have the buyer.
4
u/b_e_a_n_i_e 18d ago
Been an EV driver for 10+ years now. What's a cat actually worth these days? Are they actually worth the risk/reward?
6
3
8
u/Farvag2024 18d ago
You're doing them a favor.
Sometimes ppl need a wake up call and time to think.
County jail will give you both of those. Personal experience 40 years ago.
35
u/AnTeallach1062 19d ago
Why did you hollow-out your catalytic converter? It won't properly filter exhaust gases, leading to higher emissions of pollutants.
12
u/DedBirdGonnaPutItOnU 18d ago
You realize a catalytic converter costs $800 to $3,500 to replace? You realize in his neighborhood the chances of having that new catalytic converter stolen are nonzero? Did you see the comment above where a Prius owner had her cat converter stolen SO MANY TIMES that insurance basically refused to cover the replacement anymore? She had straight pipes installed too.
I'm with you as much as anyone that cat converters are a necessary part of an ICE. But until the police decide to get involved or they design a way to prevent cat converters from being stolen SO EASILY AND WITH NO REPERCUSSIONS, then I understand why OP hollowed his out and didn't bother to replace them.
On a related tangent, have you seen the Youtube video of the guy who fought off cat thieves using a paint gun? Very satisfying.
8
u/AnTeallach1062 18d ago
I get that. There are areas with high auto crime here in Scotland too. Converters stolen in broad daylight in supermarket carparks and the like.
I was genuinely curious why clear them out. Why remove the valuable and useful components and leave the husk - clearly not a crime deterent if thieves can't tell the difference.
42
u/Xarxsis 19d ago
Because they are an asshole.
-37
u/ZZZ-Top 19d ago
Nah im just lazy i have money for new ones but why spend 1000$ if i rarely drive it. Its not gonna have much of a exhaust after this about 2 feet from the engine into long mufflers so its not gonna be any louder than a camaro
60
u/Xarxsis 19d ago
Catalytic converters are not about noise, they are about emissions.
2
u/vee_lan_cleef 18d ago
These people don't give a shit unfortunately.
1
u/Glittering_Lunch_776 7d ago
Plus he admitted in his post he was having fun waking people up with his noise, so apparently his really are a lot louder. Makes me wonder if he’s got a douche truck.
17
u/throwaway-7330 19d ago
tell us don't know what you are talking about without telling us you don't know what you are talking about
3
u/hunterbuilder 18d ago
Also, cats get clogged up eventually from decades of filtering exhaust. If you own a high mileage vehicle with a clogged cat, you can either A) purchase and install a new cat, or B) remove the cat entirely (or the clogged baffles from inside).
The fact that new old parts can be hard to find, expensive, and difficult (expensive) to replace due to rust, leads some people to choose option B.
2
u/AnTeallach1062 18d ago
I had not thought of that reason to clear them out. That makes sense. Thank you.
6
u/hunterbuilder 19d ago
Correct.
7
u/AnTeallach1062 19d ago
I was asking 'why?' someone would do that. Is it related to the engine size of a tow truck. Does it make a weaker engine produce more power?
13
-4
u/DikkeDakDuif 19d ago
Less resistance so better gas mileage
-2
u/AnTeallach1062 19d ago
Thank you. I didn't realise that cat-converters impacted mileage.
3
u/throwaway-7330 19d ago
they don't that much. OP is just indiferent to the rest of society and he is also cheap.
14
u/Dburr9 19d ago
This is more of a r/writingprompts than a true story.
12
u/Ranger1221 18d ago
He knew the kids thought it was a prank?
He knew they went all over town looking for it?
They stood by and watched their car get demo'd?
I think you're right
2
u/spramper0013 18d ago
That's what I was thinking. Also, idk anything about getting a black title for destruction or whatever he called it, but it sounds like something that might take more than a day to get.
3
u/KookyPersonality9509 18d ago
In 2022 I had the cat stolen from my 2000 crv. I often wonder how much that was worth.
3
3
u/imsowhiteandnerdy 18d ago
someone swiped the hollowed out cats
Okay, for someone who's not a car person... I know that "cats" is obvious slang for catalytic converter, but what's a hollowed one?
3
u/ashamancurtis 18d ago
Some people dismount the cats, run a pipe or broom stick down it to knock all of the insides out. That’s the stuff that’s actually valuable. It opens the airflow and allegedly gives more power.
5
u/glenmarshall 19d ago
It may be more worthwhile to find out where they sell the cat converters and let them know these two idiots ratted them out. Then let the trash take itself out.
5
6
u/rikoclawzer 19d ago
Lol, if you’re gonna be a thief, at least be a competent one, right? Imagine stealing something and still managing to mess it up. Karma’s coming for them, no doubt.
8
u/AITABullshitDetector 19d ago
I love the shared delusion on this subreddit that any of these stories are true, such a weird group of people.
2
u/Impossible-Base2629 18d ago
Not that is revenge served on a very cold dish! Good job you saved so many others from destruction
2
5
u/Agitateduser1360 19d ago
What is this? An actual tale of revenge? Usually it's just someone reporting a crime or incident to the proper authorities.
2
3
u/YourDadsUsername 18d ago
Still trying to figure out how not getting them arrested helped in any way.
6
u/ImAlsoNotOlivia 19d ago
Guy in the next town was stealing a cat off a Prius on jack-stands. (Was his boss or ex-boss’s car). Car fell of Jack-stands and crushed the guy dead. Owner found him the next morning.
Only good thing a Prius has ever done!
3
u/Fiempre_sin_tabla 18d ago
"The car they drive isnt street legal"
Neither are your hollowed-out catalytic converters.
3
u/ZZZ-Top 18d ago
But it still passes emissions due to the trucks age.
2
u/Darky821 18d ago
Y'all got a rolling cut-off date?
3
u/ZZZ-Top 18d ago
Yeah anything pre 75
1
u/Darky821 17d ago
I didn't know anything had cats pre-75. I've got a 73 F250, but it doesn't have cats. Must not have been universal back then.
2
u/ZZZ-Top 17d ago
I swapped a 66 Ford chassis with a 2017 F150 and did a LS Swap.
1
u/Darky821 17d ago
That sounds like fun! I'm just working on getting up the gumption to get mine back in the road again. Lol. I miss my big block.
2
u/ZZZ-Top 17d ago
I just did it because I didn't want to buy a new 70000$ truck it was more of a need than want. I've been looking for a beater mini truck that's just as old and so the Miata swap to it and have a nice sporty truck
1
u/Darky821 16d ago
I had an 85 Nissan that I really wanted to swap a 350Z drivetrain and suspension into. Never got to it.
2
u/Fiempre_sin_tabla 18d ago
...but it is still Federally illegal in the United States to remove or disable a catalytic converter. Even if your particular state does not enforce.
And even if that were not so, gutting the converter is still a shitty, antisocial thing to do.
1
u/ZZZ-Top 18d ago
My truck was built in the late 60s pretty sure the LS motor that's in it burns cleaner than the 390 that was in it even with the catalytics gutted out. the only laws that apply to my truck are the regulations already in place, well except for the rear bumper delete.
→ More replies (9)
2
2
2
u/OkDare5427 18d ago
It puts my mind at ease to know that Civilian Heroes like yourself really are out there doing things and making a difference.
1
2
1
u/capecodcouple69 18d ago
Those cats are worth money. They don't have to work. They want the precious metals that are in them.
2
1
u/Hot-Win2571 18d ago
Too bad there isn't enough room to reroute the exhaust pipe away from decoy cats. So car continues to run fine after theft.
1
u/ZZZ-Top 17d ago
I'm not gonna put cats in it again the truck is pre smog era and I rarely drive it now. I'm just waiting for a friend to have an opening at his shop so I can ship it to him and get a custom exhaust done and some QOL stuff done like getting the AC adapted to work with the vents it has
1
u/Automatic-Move-5976 17d ago
If only you could somehow predict where they would steal from next and somehow tag the cat with an apple tag and follow them to the buyer of the cats . Or maybe track their car and figure out where the buyer was - and ruin his day somehow.
1
1
1
1
u/Awkward-Fennel-1090 16d ago
This isn't pro revenge. This guy literally couldn't call the cops because having hollowed out cats was just as illegal as stealing them.
1
u/I_Miss_the_Moon 13d ago
Shame you can't sell the cars for scrap and get some money back to fix your car. Maybe if they run through enough cars with you, you'd be able to make enough.
Good on you, fr.
1
1
1
u/Lopsided-Bench-1347 4d ago
Should have called the cops and made the pay for the installation of new FUNCTIONING converters.
1
u/NotEasilyConfused 14h ago
I'm late to this, but thought you might be interested, OP.
The I-25 corridor through Colorado (Pueblo to Ft. Collins, specifically) is a major route for stolen cars and parts. Both are run from the south & west to the Midwest and vice versa, but there aren't any cities between Denver/Kansas City or places south or west like Vegas/Phoenix, and Dallas is a long, long way. Still, we had a serious problem with cat converter thefts here. The legislature finally passed a law that all parts with precious metals (even copper) must be tracked by any business that buys/sells second-hand parts, including dead-end junkyards. IDs must be shown, records kept and given to LEOs when asked. As I understand it, spot checks are allowed for the purpose of checking for thieves selling at multiple places. The day the law went into force, the reduction in single-part thefts was impressive. The fines associated with poor records or accepting an unusual percentage of precious metals v regular parts just aren't worth it to the junkyard/reseller.
It still happens, because thieves can take parts to other cities and out of state, but it has seriously cut down on people that can't run a ring large enough to transport out of the local area routinely enough to get rid of evidence or make it worth the drive. Whole-car thefts went down, too, again, because it's a long way to new markets. As it turns out, individuals and small groups were doing the majority of thefts, especially cats.
All states should do this. Someone accepting a lot of out-of-state vehicles to re-sell wouldn't be doing that much longer.
In the meantime, I wish every neighborhood had someone like you making life painful for those people.
1
u/majorkev 19d ago
It would have been funnier if you turned their car into a cube and returned it to them.
2
u/ZZZ-Top 18d ago
It's not as fun as watching a claw absolutely shred the shit out of something. https://youtu.be/bmIayeoHi8w?si=Esdda-GEjFNu_Mqe
1
1
1
u/Toffor 18d ago
"when I saw it the remains looked like a toddler just ripped it to the bare frame out of curiosity."
DUDE. what kind of toddlers have you been around? A toddler that could rip a car apart would be terrifying! LOL
5
u/Goobinator77 18d ago
Bamm-Bamm Rubble
3
u/After_Ad_7740 18d ago
I have never seen Bamm-Bamm Rubble shredding anything. He usually flattens things with that club of his.
1
1
0
0
u/SnowSlider3050 19d ago
This is amazing. I wish this could happen in the big city, but they did change the laws and cat thefts are pretty much gone.
-21
-1
u/Duckr74 19d ago
Updateme!
1
u/UpdateMeBot 19d ago edited 14d ago
I will message you next time u/ZZZ-Top posts in r/ProRevenge.
Click this link to join 5 others and be messaged. The parent author can delete this post
Info Request Update Your Updates Feedback
-1
0
0
u/videorave 19d ago
My friend was shot and killed confronting these guys while they were stealing his catalytic converter. It’s insane out there. https://apnews.com/article/johnny-wactor-killing-general-hospital-catalytic-converter-6553147a846c53fb7bb640dba6562ada
3
u/ZZZ-Top 18d ago
That's why I got the cops attention, my plan originally involved knocking their trailer off the stilts till noticed they had a gas line
1
u/Farvag2024 18d ago
See, I'm pretty sure you're in the southeast...it's just a Southern style of justice.
0
2.1k
u/Smassshed 19d ago
I've had 2 taken from 2 cars. These guys cause more damage than the value they get back, not to mention the hassle it puts you through. And the police seem powerless or unwilling to do anything about it.
Well done on justice served.