San Francisco police patrol cars targeted by catalytic converter thieves

SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco Police Department has become the latest victims of rampant catalytic-converter theft in the Bay Area. 

Mission Local reported Tuesday that a total of four department vehicles were hit this week near the department’s Special Operations Bureau at 17th and De Haro streets in the Potrero Hill neighborhood.

SFPD said the thefts were discovered Monday afternoon and likely happened either Sunday night or in the early morning hours Monday.

Thefts of catalytic converters have hit record highs in the Bay Area over the past two years, according to insurance industry data. Under cover of the night, thieves slide under cars armed with a flashlight and a battery-powered saw, cutting the prized converters off before dashing away.  

What the thieves are after is what is inside this catalytic converter. It’s a honeycomb that contains precious metals: platinum, palladium – and most precious of all – rhodium.

Also on Monday, a police officer investigating an early morning catalytic converter theft was injured after being hit by the suspects’ car in the Russian Hill neighborhood, police said.

The theft was reported about 5:08 a.m. in the 400 block of Chestnut Street, where a man told officers that someone had just stolen his car’s catalytic converter, according to a release from police.

Officers spotted a vehicle matching the description of the suspects’ car, double-parked in the area of Larkin and Chestnut streets.

They tried to conduct a traffic stop, but the driver of the car allegedly tried to flee and hit one of the officers and their patrol vehicle, police said.

No arrests have been made in either incident.