ST. PAUL, Minn. – A bill making it more difficult for thieves to sell stolen catalytic converters is moving forward in the Minnesota House after clearing a key committee Monday afternoon.
The sponsor, Mendota Heights Democrat Ruth Richardson, said a 34-year-man recently arrested in Otter Tail County went to the same scrap dealer each week to sell two to three catalytic converters and when confronted by law enforcement, he admitted to stealing more than 155 converters and had been paid more than $40,000.
The bill prohibits scrap metal dealers from buying a catalytic converter that’s been taken out of a vehicle unless it has certain identifying markings that allow trace-back. A catalytic converter would have to stay at the scrap dealer’s location for seven days and the person who brought it in couldn’t be paid for five days.
There would be up to felony penalties for scrap metal dealers who violate the proposed law.
