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The pricey parts were swiped from vehicles at the Scholastic Bus Company depot on River Road shortly before 6 a.m. June 13, Fair Lawn Police Sgt. Brian Metzler said.
Johannes Vanwageningen, 37, of Bloomingdale was identified as the thief by Fair Lawn Police Detective Chris O’Shaughnessy with help from Butler Police Detective Jarred Schmiedhauser.
Vanwageningen is known to police, having served time for aggravated manslaughter and been arrested several times in various North Jersey counties for assorted drug-related offenses.
He'd previously been convicted of aggravated manslaughter in the 2004 stabbing death of a 25-year-old Pompton Lakes man during a fight over spilled soda at a local hangout.
Responding to O’Shaughnessy’s alert, members of the Passaic County Sheriff’s Office arrested Vanwageningen last week following a traffic stop.
Fair Lawn police charged Vanwageningen with theft and released him pending court action.
Thefts of catalytic converters from vehicle underbellies have become commonplace in recent years.
The highly-prized emissions-control devices help remove nitrogen oxide and other potentially toxic pollutants from a vehicle’s exhaust while reducing engine noise.
Their honeycomb interiors are coated with a trio of precious metals -- rhodium, palladium and platinum – that have become black market prizes.
These fetch insane prices: Rhodium alone can sell for upwards of $20,000 an ounce, over 10 times more than gold.
For thieves, it could mean several hundred dollars from a chop shop or black market buyer who resells it to a recycler -- all for maybe 60 seconds of work.
For motorists, it could mean a replacement bill of up to $2,000.
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