Northeast Ohio catalytic converter thieves strike again, target food delivery trucks

CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio (WOIO) - It’s a crime that doesn’t seem to stop happening here in Northeast Ohio...

Thieves are stealing catalytic converters for their precious metals.

The most recent target was a local non-profit that delivers food to older adults.

“The cost of the repair is going to cost us about $2,000 dollars a truck,” said Dabney Conwell, the Vice President at Benjamin Rose Institute On Aging.

Disgusted and frustrated is exactly how the leaders of Benjamin Rose Institute On Aging feel.

Last Thursday, the livelihood of their Cleveland-based non-profit was taken from them.

“So on Thursday morning, we had three of our nine trucks vandalized. And the catalytic converters were stolen from those three trucks and these trucks are equipped for the delivery of hot and cold meals to home-bound older adults,” said Conwell.

If it wasn’t for Conwell and the non-profit thinking on their feet, hundreds of people would have been out a meal.

“So on Monday morning when we came in, we had to find a way to deliver 300 meals that would be going out on one of these three trucks. So we had to go and we had to rent trucks from a local vendor,” said Conwell.

Turning this frustrating situation into even more of a headache, the trucks are costing them hundreds of dollars to rent.

“It makes me angry that the decision of others impacts older adults in our community,” said Conwell.

The non-profit filed a report with Cleveland Heights Police.

Police said they don’t have any suspects.

Whoever did this is still on the loose, and could end up costing another organization thousands of dollars.

“The trucks will go into the repair shop, they can go one at a time. And so we will use rented vehicles from now until those trucks are repaired. That’s dollars, resources that we will have to use to repair those vehicles that could be being used to feed older adults in our community.”

Conwell has expressed that they need all the help they can get from others.

For now, they’ll be renting from a local U-Haul center.

Copyright 2021 WOIO. All rights reserved.