Students have been reporting that their vehicles have been vandalized in the parking lots at Moorpark College. Moorpark College Police have reportedover the past two weeks on two separate instances of the catalytic converter being stolen off Toyota 4Runners.
Officer Lieutenant Greg Beckly of the Moorpark College Police mentioned that “both of these instance took place in the D and E parking lots.”
A catalytic converter is a device incorporated in the exhaust system of a motor vehicle containing a catalyst for converting polluting gases into less harmful emissions.
Lt. Beckly also states “that it is a season problem that normally happens to the Toyota 4Runner pickup trucks”. The most common 4Runners that are normally attacked are from the years 1992-2000. Any Toyota 4Runner model after 2001 should be fine.
The Toyota 4Runner’s catalytic converter is a prime target due to amount of precious metals in the converter. The reason why the Toyota 4Runner is most commonly attacked, as apposed to other vehicles is because the catalytic converter is easy to remove, due to the high clearance from the ground.
So far only two cases have been reported to the Moorpark College Police. The catalytic converter is located under the vehicle towards the the end of your exhaust pipe. The only tool that is needed to remove the part is a saw blade, an easy alternative to heavy machinery, used by the thieves.
Lt. Beckly mentions that “The only way to prevent this is to go to your nearest muffler shop and get at least one of the six bolts welded to hold that catalytic converter into place.” Doing this will prevent anyone from stealing the catalytic converter from your vehicle. This form of security is also commonly used on most new car wheels, with one of the bolts having a key hole, not allowing thieves to simply unscrew the wheel from the vehicle with ease.
Currently the Moorpark College Police are watching the parking lots carefully to make sure this does not happen again. If your vehicle has been vandalized, contact the Moorpark College Police at (805) 378-1455 or walk in to the campus Police Station, 7075 Campus Road Moorpark, CA 93021 located east of the main gymnasium near Campus Rd. and the G parking l
