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They have been gone in 240 seconds.
Surveillance video from a Queens home-owner captured a staff of catalytic-converter thieves in motion, exhibiting simply how straightforward it’s to hold out the now skyrocketing crime.
Michelle and Brian Kilcommons have been asleep inside their Whitestone residence round 2 a.m. Tuesday when strangers rolled as much as their son Cayman’s 2003 Honda Accord parked on the road in entrance of their residence.
Part of a automotive’s exhaust system, a catalytic converter breaks down among the smog gases that may in any other case come out of the automotive’s tailpipe. The rhodium, palladium and platinum contained in the converter can fetch anywhere from $300 to $1,400 at scrapyards.
Catalytic converter thefts have surged 272% citywide, the NYPD mentioned, with 6,034 reported as of Aug. 28, in comparison with 1,619 in the identical interval final 12 months.
Kilcommons’ video reveals two of the crooks hopping out of a white, two-door sedan, hauling a jack from the trunk and putting it in entrance of the Honda.
The sedan drives off, and the 2 males jack up the Honda, pausing solely as soon as to cover as automobiles drove by.
The two thieves then make use of a loud noticed to chop out the converter, setting off the automobile’s alarm. The white sedan returns, and the thieves plop their stolen items into the trunk earlier than leaping again within the automotive.
Total time elapsed for the crime: about 4 minutes.
The Kilcommons didn’t hear the commotion, however a neighbor alerted the couple that somebody was messing with their son’s automotive, mentioned Michele Kilcommons, who regretted not calling the police instantly.
“I known as them the next night time, however I used to be like, is it even price it to file a report?” she instructed The Post. “In the recording, the faces weren’t clear and neither was the license plate. We might’ve gotten within the automotive and tried to comply with them whereas calling the police, but it surely’s simply so harmful as of late. You by no means know what’s going to occur.”
The northeast Queens neighborhood’s proximity to the Whitestone Bridge makes it a handy goal for crooks, she mentioned.
“The Whitestone bridge is true there, so individuals are available and go proper again over. It’s a simple getaway,” Kilcommons famous.
Earlier this month, Michele mentioned Brian observed two strangers on a moped using up and down the block, slowly passing parked autos.
“They have been very shadily trying on the automobiles,” she mentioned. “I believe they have been scoping out which of them to hit.”
