TOWSON, Md. — Baltimore County Police are investigating at least two thefts overnight on the same street that couldn’t have come at a worse time for victims.
"Not great timing, I'm pretty pregnant right now, was due yesterday so I could be going to the hospital in any moment to have a baby so it's not great to be down a car,” Claire Edelen, one of the victims told WMAR-2 News.
But the Prius she and her husband intended to drive to the hospital to deliver their baby girl is now out of commission.
"My husband turned on his Prius to warm it up and it sounded like the loudest motorcycle possible he knew right away,” Edelen said.
She says between Thursday night and Friday morning, they fell victim to the crime their neighbors just told them about, a catalytic converter theft.
They weren’t the only ones hit along Overbrook Road in Towson.
"My husband went to check our car across the street and it was stolen from ours too,” shared Danielle Denman who lived several houses up the road.
The ladies say thieves are just imposing more unexpected expenses on their young families.
“I know we have two day care costs coming up and we were not planning on getting another car at this moment,” she continued.
Danielle is temporarily stuck in the passenger’s seat without a car to drive.
“Probably at least couple of weeks maybe a month. They say it takes a long time for the parts to come in so we'll see how it goes. We've got to work with insurance too,” she explained.
Meanwhile, leaving Claire on the hunt for a new car all together.
“The cost of the catalytic converter is pretty much the worth of our car right now so they pretty much just stole our car and we kind of have to scramble to figure out something,” Tyler Caruso, a heavy-duty service technician said.
He explains why thieves target catalytic converters.
"So what thieves do, they steal the converters and take them to scrap yards and scrap yards will pay them for the weight or type of converter it came off of but there are deterrents that can be installed. We have thick cable that can be wrapped around the new converter and attached to the frame,” he said.
The costs of those repairs can climb quickly.
"Those metals alone are expensive. The converters can cost between $800 and $2,000 and then we need to have the labor to install it and sometimes modifying the exhaust for repaired wiring is all additional costs,” said Caruso.
"It's just really upsetting that we live in a really safe area and we have a young toddler at home. Its rough being stuck with only one car for the three of us so its not what we expect,” Denman said.
