Violent criminals target West Park businesses for catalytic converters

West Park, Fla. – Two South Florida businesses were recently targeted by fraudsters, but the criminals weren’t short on cash.

Over the weekend, surveillance cameras captured the pair using a jack to raise the car as one of the men began cutting the catalytic converter.

Then the action is repeated several times.

Greg Jackson owns the business next door: Tycoon Party Rentals. He was also hit, the thieves stole the crucial car part from the entire fleet.

“I’m going to keep hitting, I’m going to get every time I replace him and I’m going to keep hitting,” Jackson said. “Hopefully we can get some justice man and we can get our company back on track because we can’t transport as much as we want right now because we don’t have the amount of vans we have. They’ve taken them all. Changers out there.”

The getaway car used by the thieves was seen in the same footage but the damage was left behind.

Auto parts that control vehicle emissions are made of precious metals like platinum and rhodium and sell for hundreds of dollars at junkyards.

Sometimes it is more than the price of gold.

Replacing critical auto parts can run thousands of dollars for some vehicles, which can be devastating for small business owners.

“It’s costing me money, these converters aren’t cheap, so I can only fix one van or one truck,” Jackson said.

Anyone with information is urged to call Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS.