Montco Man Convicted of Stealing Catalytic Converters From Parked Cars
By Brad Segall
NORRISTOWN, Pa. (CBS) -- A Montgomery County man has been found guilty of stealing catalytic converters from cars that were parked in SEPTA train station parking lots in Norristown between April and July of last year.
Judge Garrett Page found Lewis Granger of Bridgeport, Pa. guilty of eight counts of theft by unlawful taking.
Police say the 38-year-old man would wait for commuters to park their vehicles and get on the train, then use a portable, battery-powered saw to cut off the catalytic converters.
Montgomery County prosecutor Prince Holloway says Granger would then sell the parts to a scrap dealer or pawn shop for between $30 and $100 each (see previous story).
"And it's just a sad situation," says Holloway, "because no one has an extra thousand dollars to get this repaired. So you have normal people going to work, doing the right thing, and then you have someone like the defendant taking a lot of negative energy and stealing something."
Holloway plans to argue for state jail time at sentencing, later this year. The sentencing guidelines, according to Holloway, call for between six and 16 months on each theft charge.
