Buses in two Howell-area locations were struck recently by catalytic converter thieves.
The first incident occurred January 7 at the Livingston Essential Transportation Service (LETS) lot at Grand River and Burkhart Road, where several vehicles ready for auction and a single LETS bus were vandalized. The street value of the converters was estimated to be approximately $11,840. The Livingston County Sheriff’s Office is investigating that case.
A second incident occurred this past Friday, January 20, at the Howell Public Schools bus depot, located off of M-59 next to Howell High School. Reportedly, nine of the school buses, five that run on gas and four that run on propane, had the catalytic convertors cut out of them.
“There were five guys. They cut a hole in the fence by the LESA building/buses and used a crawler to go underneath every single bus,” a verified source told GIGO News.
Howell Police are investigating and expect to soon release additional information.
A study from the National Insurance Crime Bureau indicates that thefts of catalytic converters, which are sought for the precious metals in the emissions-reducing devices, increased by 325% between 2019 and 2020.
