Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SOUTH SALT LAKE -- Police in South Salt Lake want to find a man and woman who may be connected to the theft of catalytic converters from school vehicles.
Police say the man cut out 29 catalytic converters from 19 district trucks and vans. The theft happened early Sunday morning and forced the district to shut down its summer lunch program to 10 schools Monday.
Monday evening, police released surveillance video from a business near the Salt Lake City School District where a large early-'90s Ford extended cab pickup truck can be seen backing into the district lot and then a man getting out. A second video clip shows converters being dumped over the fence while a woman acts as a lookout.
"We believe they're in contact by cell phone, and she walks up to the vehicle after a pretty considerable amount of time and gets into the truck at the same time the male comes over the fence, and they drive away," said Gary Keller with the South Salt Lake Police Department.
Because police did not receive any tips after releasing the surveillance video Monday evening, officials Tuesday released more photos of the suspects and the truck involved.
The truck is very distinct with rusted paint and some damage to the bed.
The catalytic converters contain precious metals. Depending on which metal was used, thieves can sell the converters to metal recyclers for hundreds of dollars. Police say the couple was likely after the platinum in these catalytic converters.
Anyone with information in this case is asked to call police at 801-840-4000. All calls are confidential and callers may remain anonymous.
Police also want people who work at scrap and salvage yards to keep an eye out for these catalytic converters.
E-mail: syi@ksl.com
