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| Image: Pixels1 |
When police wake you up at 4AM, it’s rarely because they want to share good news. But, things could have been worse for a woman who received just such a visit early this morning.
Around 3:30AM, witnesses reported seeing two men sawing the catalytic converter off of a vehicle under the L tracks between Roscoe and Newport. Police responded quickly and managed to stop the offenders as they exited the alley at Newport and Halsted.
Officers recovered a severed catalytic converter and a Sawzall from the back of their vehicle, then worked backwards to locate the car from which the converter was taken, and, eventually, to find the victim at her home in the 3500 block of Lake Shore Drive.
According to the victim, she had left her car parked in the 500 block of Brompton, so it appears that the thieves stole her car, drove it a few blocks to the more secluded Clark Street L tracks and performed “surgery” on it.
Two people are in custody. Their get-away vehicle is registered to a Garfield Park woman.
Theft and resale of catalytic converters is a popular career path for some Chicagoans. Replacement of the part will cost victims about $1,800.
