Berkeley Police Department has reported more than 300 catalytic converter thefts so far in 2026, a 21% increase from 248 reported thefts in 2025.<\/p>\n
Catalytic converters are exhaust emission control devices that convert toxic pollutants into less harmful gases. They contain rare and expensive metals \u2014 such as platinum, rhodium and palladium \u2014 making catalytic converters commonly stolen items.<\/p>\n
As the prices of these precious metals rise, catalytic converter thefts have as well. For car owners, replacing these stolen parts can range from $300 to $2,500 depending on the model of car.<\/p>\n
UC Berkeley student Joy Herzberger was living in Los Angeles a few weeks before her move-in date for the semester when her converter was stolen. She shared the car with her boyfriend and lived in an apartment with a gated driveway, which made her unafraid of theft. It was only when she left her car parked overnight at her friend\u2019s house that her converter was stolen.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt being stolen was really stressful and frustrating, but more so, the issues with, \u2018What do you do now that it\u2019s stolen?\u2019 \u201d Herzberger said. \u201cWe\u2019re two adults trying to exist in Los Angeles, so I didn\u2019t have very good insurance on the car.\u201d<\/p>\n
Following the theft, Herzberger contacted her insurance and discovered that coverage for the theft would have been priced at about $280 per month, a cost that for her would have been unaffordable.<\/p>\n
According to data from BPD, catalytic converter thefts rose in 2020 and 2021, with more than 500 reported cases of theft each year. In 2022, BPD reported 847 reported thefts \u2014 the highest in the last decade.<\/p>\n
Herzberger said the lowest quote she got for the catalytic converter replacement was $4,000. She decided that for her 2005 Toyota Prius with more than 200,000 miles, the replacement would be too expensive. Herzberger said this was a difficult decision, given that she and her boyfriend had already invested in a new battery and purchased a new set of tires.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe car sat on the street for two to three weeks while we debated and figured out what to do, and then we ended up having to sell it \u2014 scrap it for parts,\u201d Herzberger said. \u201cI think we got $350. It\u2019s frustrating \u2026 the tires alone are worth more than that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Herzberger said she didn\u2019t file a police report because she didn\u2019t think the police could provide any support for the theft.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s overwhelming because the system perpetuates poverty \u2026 we were too poor to spend another $100 a month,\u201d Herzberger said. \u201cNow we\u2019re out of a car.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Berkeley Police Department has reported more than 300 catalytic converter thefts so far in 2026, a 21% increase…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":514381,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[7872,111595,136719,197874,47,143,145,144,112191,149],"class_list":["post-514380","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-berkeley-police-department","tag-catalytic-converter","tag-catalytic-converters","tag-joy-herzberger","tag-los-angeles","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news","tag-toyota-prius","tag-uc-berkeley"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/514380","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=514380"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/514380\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/514381"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=514380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=514380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=514380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}