A brief history of Akron man's effort to stop the theft of his catalytic converter [Akron Beacon Journal]

After his encounter with a would-be catalytic converter thief June 7, Akron resident Bart Hanlon thought the man was sure to get some jail time.

After all, the evidence was as complete as you could hope for. The man's vehicle had been abandoned. Hanlon had the man's ID card, the tools he used to cut off converters and video of Hanlon chasing the man around the neighborhood.

Four months later, though, Hanlon is out $1,900 and the man responsible for cutting into his converter and floorboard is back at work. The converter is worth about $185 to scrappers.

"He was never charged," Hanlon said in an interview at his North Hill home. "I had the truck. I had his keys. I had his wallet, and I gave it to the police. I thought I was being helpful."

But the man had another trick up his sleeve, Hanlon said — an identical twin.

Hanlon's dogs woke him up on June 7 about 5 a.m.

"I heard what I knew was the sound of a reciprocating saw," Hanlon said. "I said to myself, 'Who is sawing at 5 a.m.?' "

Almost immediately, he answered his own question. Someone was nearby cutting off a catalytic converter. He knew that businesses and individuals in his neighborhood had been hit recently, some more than once, and he knew the sound of saw on metal.

He opened the window and saw a man walking toward his car, which was parked on the road. He decided to confront the man.

"Basically, I thought I was going to accost him outside," Hanlon said.

He went first to the man's dodge truck, parked behind his car, and looked inside. The man's ID and tools were inside and the truck was running. Hanlon walked to the other side of the truck, and saw the man's legs hanging out from underneath his car.

"He had a miner's headlight [and] a spare battery pack in the truck," Hanlon said.

While he confronting the man, Hanlon's girlfriend was in the house, calling the police and watching Hanlon outside.

"I announced myself to him to get out from under the car and stay laying down," he said. "Which he did not do."

That's about the time things got weird.

The man got up and walked toward Hanlon.

"He told me not to bother him," Hanlon said. "He said he had kids in the car."

But Hanlon could clearly see that was a lie. He opened the door and turned the truck off; the man tried to get in the passenger side of the vehicle.

"He was acting hinky," Hanlon said. "He was jittery and moving around."

They had words.

"I told him, 'You came to the wrong neighborhood,' " Hanlon said.

He and his girlfriend had set up a neighborhood watch program 20 years before, so he'd had some exposure to crime and was aware of the recent rash of converter thefts. But this confrontation was something new in Hanlon's experience.

"He said, 'I don't want to go back to jail,' " Hanlon said.

It could have gotten dicey for Hanlon at that point, but then the man took off running.

And Hanlon, still in his skivvies and a yellow T-shirt, ran after him. Video shows the man running from his truck and Hanlon chasing him a few feet behind.

"My neighbors thought that was hilarious," he said.

His girlfriend was not amused, but Hanlon said he'd think it was funny, too, if it weren't such a serious confrontation.

The man circled back toward his truck, but when confronted, ran off again. He came through Hanlon's back yard the next time, but Hanlon was ready as he jumped a fence.

"He said he wanted to die," Hanlon said.

And then he ran again.

"I'm thinking, the police aren't coming," Hanlon said. "I wasn't going to chase him a third time."

In July, about the same time Hanlon was chasing his menace, State Farm reported that U.S. insurance claims for stolen converters grew about 300% from July 1, 2020, to June 30, 2021, up from 4,500 in the prior 12-month period to 18,000.

The cost to replace the converters can be devastating for businesses and individuals.

Hanlon said his converter would have netted about $185 at a scrap yard. It cost 10 times as much to repair and replace the damage that was caused.

Unlike many victims, Hanlon reported his damage to his auto insurance company. In addition to ruining the converter, the would-be thief nicked a brake line and cut the floor board. That last item won't be fixed, Hanlon said. It would cost too much for the 2005 vehicle.

The insurance employee who took his call said reported converter thefts have climbed fivefold for the company in the past four years.

"She said, 'Oh, no. Not another one,' " Hanlon said.

Legislation introduced by state Rep. Bob Young would tighten Ohio law on sales of used converters, placing additional safeguards at the point of sale.

Young said via text on Saturday that he's hoping the legislation will get its first hearing this week.

Hanlon welcomes stricter rules on such sales. But he believes some theft rings accumulate dozens — or more — converters and then sell them out of state.

When the police arrived June 7, Hanlon said it was the longest response time he could remember: The foiled thief had timed his crime perfectly.

"He knew the police were [busy] at that time," Hanlon said.

But he thought it wouldn't matter that the man had gotten away. All the evidence was available, it seemed, for an ironclad case: the truck, the tools, the driver's license — if they needed to, the authorities could cull DNA from the vehicle, he thought.

He talked to police and then a detective on June 11, when he was told the man had a twin and they weren't new to the game. The brothers worked with a third man, and police were well-aware of their activities.

Hanlon said he looked up court records on the men, and found a history of similar crimes.

He was shown a lineup and identified the brothers, but he couldn't say with 100% confidence which was the man he confronted — he's pretty sure which one it was, but that wasn't good enough for charges.

Meanwhile, Hanlon said the man has started stealing catalytic converters again in North Hill.

"It was quiet for two weeks and started back up again," he said.

Leave a message for Alan Ashworth at 330-996-3859 or email him at aashworth@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @newsalanbeaconj.

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