The investigation found that TDI Towing was operated by Michael Williams, 52, of Philadelphia. TDI employees paid an average of $300 per catalytic converter, for a total of nearly $8.2 million during the three years. This investigation found that TDI Towing had been in the business of buying catalytic converters for at least three years, and during that time they bought an average of 175 catalytic converters a week, or 27,300 during those three years. The tow yard was so popular with thieves that in one case, a catalytic converter was sawed off from a stolen vehicle right outside the yard.īucks County detectives and assisting law enforcement agencies conducted thousands of hours of surveillance at TDI Towing, conducted controlled sales at the tow yard and used other advanced investigative techniques to identify catalytic converter thieves and those at the tow yard who purchased the stolen goods. While TDI Towing advertised itself as operating during daytime hours, people would arrive all throughout the night to sell catalytic converters. On several occasions, TDI Towing paid $1,000 for a single converter. On some nights, there would 30 transactions with some thieves showing up more than once. Often, catalytic converters can be stolen in about a minute, and sometimes, they are stolen in broad daylight, this investigation found.įrom 2020 to 2023, thousands of catalytic converters have been stolen out of Bucks County, costing consumers millions of dollars in damages/repairs. The average cost to repair a stolen catalytic converter is around $2,000.īecause of the prevalence of thefts, law enforcement began to focus not only on individual thieves or “cutters” but also the organizations or businesses purchasing the stolen catalytic converters.ĭuring this investigation, detectives identified TDI Towing at 2335 Wheatsheaf Lane in Philadelphia as the main buyer of catalytic converters stolen in Bucks and Montgomery counties.Īt its peak, TDI Towing was paying a minimum of $10,000 a night to thieves coming to the tow yard to sell stolen catalytic converters. The market prices for the three main metals in catalytic converters - rhodium, platinum, and palladium – increased dramatically during the pandemic because of supply chain issues. Over the past few years, the theft of catalytic converters has skyrocketed in Bucks County, like most of nation, because of the money they can fetch at scrap yards.Ĭatalytic converters, pollution mitigation devices attached to the bottom of vehicles, contain rare and precious metals that can be broken down and harvested. McHugh.Īll but one of the defendants have been arraigned. Those charges were approved by Supervising Judge Raymond F. The Bucks County 20 th Investigating Grand Jury recommended charges of corrupt organizations, criminal conspiracy, dealing in proceeds of unlawful activity, and related charges against most of the organization. Three dozen local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies in Bucks County, Montgomery County, Delaware County, Philadelphia, and New Jersey took part in this collaborative investigation. The nearly yearlong investigation, led by Detectives with the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office, resulted in the charging of a Philadelphia tow yard, along with 10 adult individuals and one juvenile. The Bucks County District Attorney’s Office today announced the dismantling of a multi-million-dollar organized criminal enterprise that specialized in the theft of catalytic converters throughout the Delaware Valley region.
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