05/03/2022   English German

  Edition # 143  
San Francisco, 05-03-2022


Figure [1]: In broad daylight, these individuals saw the catalytic converter off a car.

Michael As mentioned in the last Rundbrief 12/2021, it is now normal here in San Francisco for petty crime to no longer be pursued by the police and the district attorney. Recently, thieves have been crawling under parked cars in broad daylight, using battery-powered saw to tools cut off the catalytic converter, and selling the part along with the precious metals it contains to shady scrap dealers. The photo in illustration 1 was taken by a resident who noticed the activity; however, despite an immediate emergency call, the police only arrived hours later, by which time the thieves were long gone. In such cases, the car owners affected have to pay several thousand dollars for a new catalytic converter, depending on the vehicle type, plus an equal amount to repair the damage caused to the exhaust system by the rough sawing. It costs an additional $400 if the owner hires a workshop to weld a specially designed steel cage around the catalytic converter to prevent another criminal from stealing the replaced converter using the same method a week later.

Figure [2]: Citizens report the theft online, but no one takes care of it.

The thieves know that the police here in San Francisco have by now given up patrolling the streets, and should they happen to arrest wrongdoers by chance, our criminal-friendly district attorney Boudin won't press charges and, following his broken political ideology, immediately releases them, because no people were injured during the crime.

A new catalytic converter costs between $1,000 and $3,000 depending on the car brand, and including labor hours, a victim, or their insurance coverage, can quickly end up paying $4,000 to $5,000 for the repair. It is suspected that some workshops partially buy back the stolen catalytic converters through dubious channels and sell them to unsuspecting customers. The thieves only get a fraction of the original price for a stolen catalytic converter from shady scrap dealers. But earning a few hundred dollars with five minutes of work, without the risk of being held accountable for illegal activities, is incentive enough for an increasing number of criminals. That it would come to the point where things would be like in the post-apocalyptic film "Mad Max" here, no one would have dreamed of ten years ago. You never stop learning.

RSS Feed
Mailing Liste
Impressum
Mike Schilli Monologues


Get announcements for new editions

New editions of this publication appear in somewhat random intervals. To receive a brief note when they're available in your mailbox (about once every two months on average), you can register your email on the 'usarundbrief' Google Groups list.

Your email address



All Editions:
2024 153 154 155
2023 148 149 150 151 152
2022 143 144 145 146 147
2021 138 139 140 141 142
2020 133 134 135 136 137
2019 129 130 131 132
2018 125 126 127 128
2017 120 121 122 123 124
2016 115 116 117 118 119
2015 111 112 113 114
2014 106 107 108 109 110
2013 101 102 103 104 105
2012 96 97 98 99 100
2011 91 92 93 94 95
2010 85 86 87 88 89 90
2009 79 80 81 82 83 84
2008 73 74 75 76 77 78
2007 66 67 68 69 70 71 72
2006 59 60 61 62 63 64 65
2005 54 55 56 57 58
2004 49 50 51 52 53
2003 43 44 45 46 47 48
2002 36 37 38 39 40 41 42
2001 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35
2000 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27
1999 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
1998 7 8 9 10 11 12
1997 1 2 3 4 5 6
1996 0

 

Send us a comment
We'd like to hear from you, please send us feedback if you want to comment on the content or have suggestions for future topics.

Simply write your your message into the text box below. If you'd like a response from us, please also leave your email. If you want to stay anonymous, simply put 'anonymous' into the email field. This way we'll get the message, but we have no way to respond to you.

Your email address


Message

 
Contact the authors
Latest update: 03-Sep-2024